Anomalous Photoelectric Phenomena in Silicon with Nanoclusters of Manganese Atoms

It is shown that in silicon with nanoclusters of manganese atoms, a number of anomalous photoelectric phenomena are observed, such as residual impurity photoconductivity with a long relaxation time, infrared quenching of photoconductivity in the absence of its own background illumination, giant impurity photoconductivity, and a superlinear impurity—current–voltage characteristic, which are associated with the presence of nanoclusters of manganese atoms. The nature of these phenomena cannot be explained by the existing theory of photoconductivity. Such materials can be used to create new types of photoelectric devices.