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Published October 2018 | public
Book Section - Chapter

III-V Semiconductor Unipolar Barrier Infrared Detectors

Ting, David Z.

Abstract

The II-VI semiconductor HgCdTe (MCT) is the most successful infrared photodetector material to date. MCT grown on nearly lattice-matched CdZnTe (CZT) substrate offers continuous cutoff wavelength (λ_(cutoff)) coverage from the short-wave infrared (SWIR) to the very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR), while providing high quantum efficiency (QE) and low dark current for high-performance applications. In general III-V semiconductors are more robust than their II-VI counterparts due to stronger, less ionic chemical bonding. III-V semiconductor-based infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) excel in operability, spatial uniformity, temporal stability, scalability, producibility, and affordability. InGaAs FPAs with λ_(cutoff) ∼1.7 μm perform at near theoretical limit and dominates the SWIR FPA market. Despite a significantly lower operating temperature than MCT, InSb FPAs (Λ_(cutoff) ∼5.3 μm) dominate the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) market in volume due to superior manufacturability and lower cost. The limitation for traditional bulk III-V semiconductor detectors grown on (nearly) lattice-matched substrates is the lack of broad cutoff wavelength adjustability.

Additional Information

© 2018 IEEE. The author thanks his JPL collaborators, and S. Bandara, X. Cartoixà, E. S. Daniel, R. E. DeWames, A. D'Souza, M. A. Kinch, M. B. Reine, D. R. Rhiger, J. N. Schulman, D. L. Smith, and W. E. Tennant for helpful discussions. The research described in this publication was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023