We have investigated the negative luminescent properties of HgCdTe photodiodes having peak emission at a wavelength of 7.6 μm, as a function of temperature and applied bias. Under reverse bias at room temperature, intrinsic Auger processes are almost fully suppressed. The internal negative luminescence efficiency of ≈85% is nearly independent of temperature in the 240–300 K range, and at 296 K corresponds to an apparent temperature reduction of 43 K. The small currents needed to drive these diodes (as little as 0.7 A/cm2 at 296 K), together with their long-wavelength luminescence, make them suitable for a range of device applications.

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Energy distribution curves of secondary electrons from an outgassed columbium target have been obtained with the same apparatus as in similar studies on molybdenum. The results from Cb are qualitatively similar to those from Mo. "Discrete loss" and "fixed energy" groups of secondary electrons are observed at energies which are in most cases slightly less than the corresponding ones in the case of Mo. The number of elastically reflected electrons was also studied as a function of primary energy. The curve shows marked similarity to that obtained from Mo, the peaks again being at somewhat lower energies in the case of Cb. It is shown that the lower values of the energies involved in the various phenomena in the present case are to be expected because of the lower atomic number of Cb and because of its larger lattice constant.

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