Methods for Predicting Primary Photocurrents.

The report describes the efforts to predict primary photocurrents from microcircuit junctions using a neodymium laser as a radiation source. The principal results demonstrate that photocurrent predictions can be achieved but have large errors due primarily to uncertainty in dosimetry. The predictions were based on data arrived at through visual inspection of microcircuit junctions coupled with electrical measurements consisting of the capacitance-voltage technique and the reverse biased current as a function of temperature. Typical minority carrier lifetimes for the junctions examined were two to three nanoseconds. Author