Quantum sensors
Quantum detectors for the ultraviolet, visible and near infrared

The detectors described in this article are quantum detectors, i.e. they obey the laws of quantum mechanics governing the energy levels accessible to free carriers – electrons or holes – in materials, and the possible energy exchanges between electromagnetic waves and matter. The focus is on photovoltaic detectors, which use the energy of each photon to excite an electron-hole pair in a junction (diode) (see the article Semiconductor sensors [E 3092]), but also, for night vision (§ 3.1), external photoelectric effect detectors, where an incident photon extracts an electron from a material (photocathode)...