Optical constants and spatial uniformity of thermally grown oxide layer of custom, induced-junction, silicon photodiodes for a predictable quantum efficient detector

We have investigated the optical properties of self-induced inversion-layer silicon photodiodes using spectroscopic ellipsometric measurement techniques. We report a self-consistent data set and dispersion relation for the optical constants of the thermally grown oxide layer. The oxide layer thickness and spatial uniformity of a series of custom manufactured 22 mm x 11 mm rectangular diodes are evaluated. These photodiodes are used in a light trapping arrangement and exhibit predictable quantum efficiency and thus, predictable spectral responsivity. For comparison, we report measurements of the absolute spatial uniformity of the oxide layer on commercial "S6337" and "S1337" radiometric quality photodiodes.