As long as high resolution or long-range observation is to be achieved using infrared detection, it will be necessary to cool down the detector in order to reach the best sensitivity and dynamics. This paper describes different cooling solutions currently used for this purpose discussing advantages and drawbacks. Some guideline is given for cooler choice and selection. The focus is on rotary Stirling coolers illustrated by description of the RMs1 cooler dedicated to high operating temperature size, weight, and power infrared detectors. A user case study is presented with cooler power consumption and cool down time of the RMs1 cooler when integrated in IRnova’s Oden MW IDDCAs.
In the past ten years, InAs/InAsSb type-II superlattice has emerged as a promising technology for high-temperature mid-wave infrared photodetector. Nevertheless, transport properties are still poorly understood in this type of material. In this paper, optical and electro-optical measurements have been realised on InAs/InAsSb type-II superlattice mid-wave infrared photodetectors. Quantum efficiency of 50% is measured at 150 K, on the front side illumination and simple pass configuration. Absorption measurement, as well as lifetime measurement are used to theoretically calculate the quantum efficiency thanks to Hovel’s equation. Diffusion length values have been extracted from this model ranging from 1.55 µm at 90 K to 7.44 µm at 200 K. Hole mobility values, deduced from both diffusion length and lifetime measurements, varied from 3.64 cm²/Vs at 90 K to 37.7 cm²/Vs at 200 K. The authors then discuss the hole diffusion length and mobility variations within temperature and try to identify the intrinsic transport mechanisms involved in the superlattice structure.
The operation of narrow-gap semiconductor devices under non-equilibrium mode is used at temperatures where the materials are normally intrinsic. The phenomenon of minority carrier exclusion and extraction was particularly discussed in the case of the suppression of Auger thermal generation in heterojunction photodiodes, especially important in the long-wave infrared range. This paper shows that the reduction of the dark current in the HgCdTe photodiode operating in the mid-wave infrared range is primarily the result of suppression of the Shockley-Read-Hall generation in the non-equilibrium absorber. Under a reverse bias, the majority carrier concentration is held equal to the majority carrier doping level. This effect also leads to a decreased majority carrier population at the trap level and an effective increase in the carrier lifetime. The analysed device was with the following design: p+-Bp cap-barrier unit, p-type absorber doped at the level of 8 ·1015 cm−3, and wide-bandgap N+ bottom contact layer. At room temperature, the lowest dark current density of 3.12 ·10−1 A/cm2 was consistent with the theoretically predicted Shockley-Read-Hall suppression mechanism, about two times smaller than for the equilibrium case.
In this work, the authors investigated the influence of proton-irradiation on the dark current of XBp longwave infrared InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice barrier detectors, showing a cut-off wavelength from 11 µm to 13 µm at 80 K. The proton irradiations were performed with 63 MeV protons and fluences up to 8∙1011 H+/cm² on a type-II superlattice detector kept at cryogenic (100 K) or room temperature (300 K). The irradiation temperature of the detector is a key parameter influencing the effects of proton irradiation. The dark current density increases due to displacement damage dose effects and this increase is more important when the detector is proton-irradiated at room temperature rather than at cryogenic temperature.
The authors report two approaches, the first based on growth of lattice matched InGaAs/GaAsSb superlattice on InP substrate with tunable bandgap in the 2 to 3 µm range. The second approach is based on bulk random alloy InGaAsSb, which is tunable from 1.7 µm to 4.5 µm and lattice matched to the GaSb lattice constant. In each case, detector structures were fabricated and characterised. The authors have assessed the performance of these materials relative to commercially available extended short wave infrared devices through comparison to IGA-Rule 17 dark current performance level. A complementary barrier structure used in the InGaAsSb design showed improved quantum efficiency. The materials compare favourably to commercial technology and present additional options to address the challenging extended short wave infrared spectral band.
This work investigates the potential of p-type InAs/GaSb superlattice for the fabrication of full mid-wave megapixel detectors with n-on-p polarity. A significantly higher surface leakage is observed in deep-etched n-on-p photodiodes compared to p-on-n diodes. Shallow-etch and two-etch-step pixel geometry are demonstrated to mitigate the surface leakage on devices down to 10 µm with n-on-p polarity. A lateral diffusion length of 16 µm is extracted from the shallow etched pixels, which indicates that cross talk could be a major problem in small pitch arrays. Therefore, the two-etch-step process is used in the fabrication of 1280 × 1024 arrays with a 7.5 µm pitch, and a potential operating temperature up to 100 K is demonstrated.
In recent years, type-II superlattice-based devices have completed the offer of the electronic industry in many areas of applications. Photodetection is one of them, especially in the mid-infrared wavelength range. It is due to the unique feature of a superlattice material, which is a tuneable bandgap. It is also believed that the dark current of superlattice-based photodetectors is strongly suppressed due to the suppression of the band-to-band tunnelling current in a superlattice material. This argument relies, however, on a semi-classical approach that treats superlattice as a bulk material with effective parameters extracted from the kp analysis. In the paper, a superlattice device is analysed on a quantum level: the non-equilibrium Green’s function method is applied to the two-band Hamiltonian of the InAs/GaSb superlattice p-i-n diode. The analysis concentrates on the band-to-band tunnelling with the aim to validate the correctness of a semi-classical description of the phenomenon. The results of calculations reveal that in a superlattice diode, the inter-band tunnelling occurs only for certain values of energy and in-plane momentum, for which electronic and hole sub-bands cross. The transitions occurring for vanishing in-plane momentum produce resonances in the current-voltage characteristics – the feature which was reported in a few experimental observations. This scenario is quite different from that occurring in bulk materials, where there is a range of energy-momentum pairs for which the band-to-band tunnelling takes place, and so current-voltage characteristics are free from any resonances. However, simulations show that, while not justified for a detailed analysis, the semi-classical description can be applied to superlattice-based devices for an ‘order of magnitude’ estimation of the band-to-band tunnelling current.
Short-period 10 monolayers InAs/10ML GaSb type-II superlattices have been deposited on a highly lattice-mismatched GaAs (001), 2° offcut towards <110> substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. This superlattice was designed for detection in the mid-wave infrared spectral region (cut-off wavelength, λcut-off = 5.4 µm at 300 K). The growth was performed at relatively low temperatures. The InAs/GaSb superlattices were grown on a GaSb buffer layer by an interfacial misfit array in order to relieve the strain due to the ~7.6% lattice-mismatch between the GaAs substrate and type-II superlattices. The X-ray characterisation reveals a good crystalline quality exhibiting full width at half maximum ~100 arcsec of the zero-order peak. Besides, the grown samples have been found to exhibit a change in the conductivity.
Dual-band infrared detector, which acquires more image information than single-band detectors, has excellent detection, recognition, and identification capabilities. The dual-band detector can have two bumps to connect with each absorber layer, but it is difficult to implement small pitch focal plane arrays and its fabrication process is complicated. Therefore, the most effective way for a dual-band detector is to acquire each band by bias-selectable with one bump. To aim this, a dual-band MWIR/LWIR detector based on an InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice nBn structure was designed and its performance was evaluated in this work. Since two absorber layers were separated by the barrier layer, each band can be detected by bias-selectable with one bump. The fabricated dual-band device exhibited the dark current and spectral response characteristics of MWIR and LWIR bands under negative and positive bias, respectively. Spectral crosstalk that is a major issue in dual-band detectors was also improved. Finally, a 20 μm pitch 640 × 512 dual-band detector was fabricated, and both MWIR and LWIR images exhibited an average noise equivalent temperature difference of 30 mK or less at 80 K.
The electronic quasi-bound state in the continuum concept is explored in an InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructure to create a voltage-tunable dual-colour quantum Bragg mirror detector. This heterostructure is based on one main quantum well embedded between two different superlattices. By bandgap engineering, each superlattice gives rise to quasi-bound states in the continuum with a preferential direction for electron extraction. Due to these states, the photovoltaic photocurrent presents a dual-colour response, one in a positive direction at 340 meV (3.6 µm), and one in a negative direction at 430 meV (2.9 µm). The simultaneous dual-colour detection can be switched to a single-colour detection (340 meV or 430 meV) by applying a bias voltage. At 77 K, the specific detectivity for simultaneous dual-colour is 2.5·108 Jones, while the single-colour detectivities are 2.6·109 Jones at +2.0 V and 7.7·108 Jones at −1.6 V for 340 meV and 430 meV, respectively.
Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, R. Athos Silveira Ramos 149, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brasil
DISSE, Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Nanodispositivos Semiconductores, R. Marquês de São Vicente 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, 22451-900, Brasil
LabSem/CETUC, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, R. Marquês de São Vicente 124, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro 22451-040, Brasil
This paper presents examples of infrared detectors with mercury cadmium telluride elaborated at the Institute of Applied Physics, Military University of Technology and VIGO Photonics S.A. Fully doped HgCdTe epilayers were grown with the metal organic chemical vapour deposition technique which provides a wide range of material composition covering the entire infrared range from 1.5 µm to 14 µm. Fundamental issues concerning the design of individual areas of the heterostructure including: the absorber, contacts, and transient layers with respect to their thickness, doping and composition were discussed. An example of determining the gain is also given pointing to the potential application of the obtained devices in avalanche photodiode detectors that can amplify weak optical signals. Selected examples of the analysis of current-voltage and spectral characteristics are shown. Multiple detectors based on a connection in series of small individual structures are also presented as a solution to overcome inherent problems of low resistance of LWIR photodiodes. The HgCdTe detectors were compared with detectors from III-V materials. The detectors based on InAs/InAsSb superlattice materials achieve very comparable parameters and, in some respects, they are even superior to those with mercury cadmium telluride.
Germanium (Ge) PiN photodetectors are fabricated and electro-optically characterised. Unintentionally and p-type doped Ge layers are grown in a reduced-pressure chemical vapour deposition tool on a 200 mm diameter, <001>-oriented, p-type silicon (Si) substrates. Thanks to two Ge growth temperatures and the use of short thermal cycling afterwards, threading dislocation densities down to 107 cm−2 are obtained. Instead of phosphorous (P) ion implantation in germanium, the authors use in situ phosphorous-doped poly-crystalline Si (poly-Si) in the n-type regions. Secondary ion mass spectrometry revealed that P was confined in poly-Si and did not diffuse in Ge layers beneath. Over a wide range of tested device geometries, production yield was dramatically increased, with almost no short circuits. At 30 °C and at −0.1 V bias, corresponding to the highest dynamic resistance, the median dark current of 10 µm diameter photodiodes is in the 5–20 nA range depending on the size of the n-type region. The dark current is limited by the Shockley-Read-Hall generation and the noise power spectral density of the current by the flicker noise contribution. A responsivity of 0.55 and 0.33 A/W at 1.31 and 1.55 µm, respectively, is demonstrated with a 1.8 µm thick absorption Ge layer and an optimized anti-reflection coating at 1.55 µm. These results pave the way for a cost-effective technology based on group-IV semiconductors.
This work investigates the potential of InAs/GaSb superlattice detectors for the short-wavelength infrared spectral band. A barrier detector structure was grown by molecular beam epitaxy and devices were fabricated using standard photolithography techniques. Optical and electrical characterisations were carried out and the current limitations were identified. The authors found that the short diffusion length of ~1.8 µm is currently limiting the quantum efficiency (double-pass, no anti-reflection coating) to 43% at 2.8 µm and 200 K. The dark current density is limited by the surface leakage current which shows generation-recombination and diffusion characters below and above 195 K, respectively. By fitting the size dependence of the dark current, the bulk values have been estimated to be 6.57·10−6 A/cm2 at 200 K and 2.31·10−6 A/cm2 at 250 K, which is only a factor of 4 and 2, respectively, above the Rule07.
The sensitivity of III-V-based infrared detectors is critically dependent upon the carrier concentration and mobility of the absorber layer, and thus, accurate knowledge of each is required to design structures for maximum detector performance. Here, measurements of the bulk in-plane resistivity, in-plane mobility, and carrier concentration as a function of temperature are reported for non-intentionally doped and Si-doped mid-wave infrared InAs0.91Sb0.09 alloy and InAs/InAs0.65Sb0.35 type-II superlattice materials grown on GaSb substrates. Standard temperature- and magnetic-field-dependent resistivity and the Hall measurements on mesa samples in the van der Pauw configuration are performed, and multi-carrier fitting and modelling are used to isolate transport of each carrier species. The results show that up to 5 carrier species of the surface, interface and bulk variety contribute to conduction, with bulk electron and hole mobility up to 2·105 cm2/V s and 8·103 cm2/V s, respectively and background dopant concentration levels were between 1014 and 1015 cm−3. The in-plane mobility temperatures dependence is determined and trends of each carrier species with temperature and dose are analysed.
Ga-free InAs/InAsSb type-II superlattice structures grown on GaSb substrates have demonstrated high performance for mid-wave infrared applications. However, realisation of long wavelength infrared photodetectors based on this material system still presents challenges, especially in terms of reduced quantum efficiency. This reduction is due, in part, to the increased type-II superlattice period required to attain longer wavelengths, as thicker periods decrease the wave-function overlap for the spatially separated quantum wells. One way to improve long wavelength infrared performance is to modify the type-II superlattice designs with a shorter superlattice period for a given wavelength, thereby increasing the wave-function overlap and the resulting optical absorption. Long wavelength infrared epitaxial structures with reduced periods have been realised by shifting the lattice constant of the type-II superlattice from GaSb to AlSb. Alternatively, epitaxial growth on substrates with orientations different than the traditional (100) surface presents another way for superlattice period reduction. In this work, the authors evaluate the performance of long wavelength infrared type-II superlattice detectors grown by molecular beam epitaxy using two different approaches to reduce the superlattice period: first, a metamorphic buffer to target the AlSb lattice parameter, and second, structures lattices matched to GaSb using substrates with different orientations. The use of the metamorphic buffer enabled a ~30% reduction in the superlattice period compared to reference baseline structures, maintaining a high quantum efficiency, but with the elevated dark current related to defects generated in the metamorphic buffer. Red-shift in a cut-off wavelength obtained from growths on high-index substrates offers a potential path to improve the infrared photodetector characteristics. Focal plane arrays were fabricated on (100), (311)A- and (211)B-oriented structures to compare the performance of each approach.
Careful selection of the physical model of the material for a specific doping and selected operating temperatures is a non-trivial task. In numerical simulations that optimize practical devices such as detectors or lasers architecture, this challenge can be very difficult. However, even for such a well-known material as a 5 µm thick layer of indium arsenide on a semi-insulating gallium arsenide substrate, choosing a realistic set of band structure parameters for valence bands is remarkable. Here, the authors test the applicability range of various models of the valence band geometry, using a series of InAs samples with varying levels of p-type doping. Carefully prepared and pretested the van der Pauw geometry samples have been used for magneto-transport data acquisition in the 20–300 K temperature range and magnetic fields up to ±15 T, combined with a mobility spectra analysis. It was shown that in a degenerate statistic regime, temperature trends of mobility for heavy- and light-holes are uncorrelated. It has also been shown that parameters of the valence band effective masses with warping effect inclusion should be used for selected acceptor dopant levels and range of temperatures.
Infrared detector technologies engineered from III-V semiconductors such as strained-layer superlattice, quantum well infrared photodetectors, and quantum dot infrared photodetectors provide additional flexibility to engineer bandgap or spectral response cut-offs compared to the historical high-performance detector technology of mercury/cadmium/telluride. The choice of detector cut-off depends upon the sensing application for which the system engineer is attempting to maximize performance within an expected ensemble of operational scenarios that define objects or targets to be detected against specific environmental backgrounds and atmospheric conditions. Sensor performance is typically characterised via one or more metrics that can be modelled or measured experimentally. In this paper, the authors will explore the impact of detector cut-off wavelength with respect to different performance metrics such as noise equivalent temperature difference and expected target detection or identification ranges using analytical models developed for several representative sensing applications encompassing a variety of terrestrial atmospheric conditions in the mid-wave and long-wave infrared wavelength bands. The authors will also report on their review of recently published literature concerning the relationships between cut-off wavelength and the other detector performance characteristics such as quantum efficiency or dark current for a variety of detector technologies.
The hyperspectral thermal imaging instrument for technology demonstration funded by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office under the In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies program requires focal plane array with reasonably good performance at a low cost. The instrument is designed to fit in a 6U CubeSat platform for a low-Earth orbit. It will collect data on hydrological parameters and Earth surface temperature for agricultural remote sensing. The long wavelength infrared type-II strain layer superlattices barrier infrared detector focal plane array is chosen for this mission. With the driving requirement dictated by the power consumption of the cryocooler and signal-noise-ratio, cut-off wavelengths and dark current are utilized to model instrument operating temperature. Many focal plane arrays are fabricated and characterised, and the best performing focal plane array that fulfils the requirements is selected. The spectral band, dark current and 8–9.4 m pass band quantum efficiency of the candidate focal plane array are: 8–10.7 m, 2.1∙10−5 A/cm2, and 47%, respectively. The corresponding noise equivalent difference temperature and operability are 30 mK and 99.7%, respectively. Anti-reflective coating is deposited on the focal plane array surface to enhance the quantum efficiency and to reduce the interference pattern due to an absorption layer parallel surfaces cladding material.
In the last decade, infrared imaging detectors trend has gone for smaller pixels and larger formats. Most of the time, this scaling is carried out at a given total sensitive area for a single focal plane array. As an example, QVGA 30 µm pitch and VGA 15 µm pitch exhibit exactly the same sensitive area. SXGA 10 µm pitch tends to be very similar, as well. This increase in format is beneficial to image resolution. However, this scaling to even smaller pixels raises questions because the pixel size becomes similar to the IR wavelength, but also to the typical transport dimensions in the absorbing material. Hence, maintaining resolution for such small pixel pitches requires a good control of the modulation transfer function and quantum efficiency of the array, while reducing the pixel size. This might not be obtained just by scaling the pixel dimensions. As an example, bulk planar structures suffer from excessive lateral diffusion length inducing pixel-to-pixel cross talk and thus degrading the modulation transfer function. Transport anisotropy in some type II superlattice structures might also be an issue for the diffusion modulation transfer function. On the other side, mesa structures might minimize cross talk by physically separating pixels, but also tend to degrade the quantum efficiency due to a non-negligible pixel fill factor shrinking down the pixel size. This paper discusses those issues, taking into account different material systems and structures, in the perspective of the expected future pixel pitch infrared focal plane arrays.
Current advances in type-II superlattice (T2SL) research at Fraunhofer IAF are elaborated on in this paper. First, the use of metastructures for quantum efficiency (QE) enhancement in the longwave infrared (LWIR) is presented. Finite element modelling results are reported on that suggest a potential for doubling of the QE at certain wavelengths with the investigated device structure. Next, characterisation results of midwave infrared (MIWR) InAs/InAsSb T2SL nBn detectors are shown. The low, diffusion-limited dark current above 120 K and a QE of 60% are comparable to the state-of-the-art. Finally, groundwork for InAs/GaSb T2SL MWIR/LWIR dual-band detector arrays based on a back-to-back heterojunction diode device concept is presented. The dry etching technology allows for steep etch trenches and full pixel reticulation with a fill factor of about 70% at 12 µm pitch. The detector characterisation at 77 K and ±250 mV bias demonstrates the bias-switchable operation mode with dark current densities of 6.1·10−9 A/cm² in the MWIR and 5.3·10−4 A/cm² in the LWIR.
The authors report the characteristics of a diffraction-grating-free mid-wavelength infrared InP/In0.85Ga0.15As quantum well infrared photodetector focal plane array with a 640 × 512 format and a 15 m pitch. Combination of a normal incident radiation sensing ability of the high-x InxGa1-xAs quantum wells with a large gain property of the InP barriers led to a diffraction-grating-free quantum well infrared photodetector focal plane array with characteristics displaying great promise to keep the status of the quantum well infrared photodetector as a robust member of the new generation thermal imaging sensor family. The focal plane array exhibited excellent uniformity with noise equivalent temperature difference nonuniformity as low as 10% and a mean noise equivalent temperature difference below 20 mK with f/2 optics at 78 K in the absence of grating. Elimination of the diffraction-grating and large enough conversion efficiency (as high as 70% at a −3.5 V bias voltage) abolish the bottlenecks of the quantum well infrared photodetector technology for the new generation very small-pitch focal plane arrays.
Micro and Nanotechnology Program, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Dumlupınar Bulvarı 1, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Dumlupınar Bulvarı 1, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
The viability of epitaxial regrowth of non-intentionally doped InP to passivate lateral mesa surfaces of InGaAs photodiodes lattice-matched to InP is investigated, evaluating whether the residual doping of the regrown layer can be responsible for an unexpected increase of the surface current. The effect of residual doping is evaluated via numerical calculations of dark current, considering the range of doping concentrations expected for non-intentionally doped InP. The calculations show that the increase in dark current due to the residual doping of the regrown InP layer is not enough to justify the observed increase in surface current. On the other hand, the technique is still valid as a passivation method if the photodetector pixel is isolated by etching only the top contact layer.
Mid-wavelength infrared detectors and focal plane array based on n-type InAs/InAsSb type-II strained layer superlattice absorbers have achieved excellent performance. In the long and very long wavelength infrared, however, n-type InAs/InAsSb type-II strained layer superlattice detectors are limited by their relatively small absorption coefficients and short growth-direction hole diffusion lengths, and consequently have only been able to achieve modest level of quantum efficiency. The authors present an overview of their progress in exploring complementary barrier infrared detectors that contain p-type InAs/InAsSb type-II strained layer superlattice absorbers for quantum efficiency enhancement. The authors describe some representative results, and also provide additional references for more in-depth discussions. Results on InAs/InAsSb type-II strained layer superlattice focal plane arrays for potential NASA applications are also briefly discussed.