Measurement of the current–voltage characteristics of thermally stabilized silicon photodiodes

The results of high-precision measurements of the current–voltage characteristics of a number of silicon photodiodes are presented. It is established experimentally that random fluctuations of the photodiode temperature have the greatest effect on the measurement accuracy. A temperature stabilization method is proposed, based on the use of the photodiode itself as a temperature sensor and which enables the error in measuring the voltage and current in the photodiode to be reduced by a factor of 103. The results obtained are compared with known theoretical models. It is shown that the one-dimensional model of the photodiode (PC1D) is much more accurate than the Schottky equation.