Optimum barrier height for Schottky-barrier detectors

Performance characteristics of Schottky-barrier detectors are investigated in terms of their physical parameters. It is shown that the detector cut-off frequency and responsivity-bandwidth product can be maximised while the level of minimum detectable power can be minimised by the proper choice of detector parameters. For zero-bias detectors, the optimum barrier heights are found to range between 0.2 and 0.4 eV. For higher barrier heights, the optimised performance can be obtained by forward-biasing the detector.