The use of silicon as an alternative substrate to bulk CdZnTe for epitaxial growth of HgCdTe for infrared detector applications is attractive because of potential cost savings as a result of the large available sizes and the relatively low cost of silicon substrates. However, the potential benefits of silicon as a substrate have been difficult to realize because of the technical challenges of growing low-defect-density HgCdTe on silicon where the lattice mismatch is $19%. This is especially true for long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) HgCdTe detectors where the performance can be limited by the high ($5 · 10 6 cm -2 ) dislocation density typically found in HgCdTe grown on silicon. The current status of LWIR (9 lm to 11 lm at 78 K) HgCdTe on silicon focal-plane arrays (FPAs) is reviewed. Recent progress is covered including improvements in noise equivalent differential temperature (NEDT) and array operability. NEDT of <25 mK and NEDT operability >99% are highlighted for 640 · 480 pixel, 20-lm-pitch FPAs.

Alternate substrates for molecular beam epitaxy growth of HgCdTe including Si, Ge, and GaAs have been under development for more than a decade. MBE growth of HgCdTe on GaAs substrates was pioneered by Teledyne Imaging Sensors (TIS) in the 1980s. However, recent improvements in the layer crystal quality including improvements in both the CdTe buffer layer and the HgCdTe layer growth have resulted in GaAs emerging as a strong candidate for replacement of bulk CdZnTe substrates for certain infrared imaging applications. In this paper the current state of the art in CdTe and HgCdTe MBE growth on (211)B GaAs and (211) Si at TIS is reviewed. Recent improvements in the CdTe buffer layer quality (double crystal rocking curve full-width at half-maximum % 30 arcsec) with HgCdTe dislocation densities of £10 6 cm À2 are discussed and comparisons are made with historical HgCdTe on bulk CdZnTe and alternate substrate data at TIS. Material properties including the HgCdTe majority carrier mobility and dislocation density are presented as a function of the CdTe buffer layer quality.

No abstract

The transport of carriers along the confinement region, the carrier capture into, and the carrier escape out of the quantum wells (QWs) are limiting processes affecting the high-frequency properties of QW lasers. The influence of these processes on the laser performance depends mainly on the ratio of the effective carrier transport/capture time and the effective escape time. We present experimental results about the escape times for GaAs/AIGaAs and InGaAs/GaAs high-speed QW lasers with varied geometrical dimensions (cavity width and length), number of QWs, In-concentrations, and p-doping levels in the active region, as extracted from electrical impedance measurements in the sub-threshold regime. In addition to the expected increase of the escape time with increasing QW barrier height, we observe an important increase in the escape time for lasers with p-doping. The escape time dependences on the carrier concentration and on the temperature are determined and discussed.

Infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPA) based on HgCdTe semiconductor alloys have been shown to be ideal for tactical and strategic applications. High density (>1 M pixel), high operability HgCdTe detectors on large area, lowcost composite substrates, such as CdTe-buffered Si or GaAs, are envisioned for next-generation IRFPAs. Thermal expansion mismatch is among various material parameters that govern the structural properties of the final detector layer. It has previously been shown that thermal expansion mismatch plays the dominant role in the residual stress characteristics of these heteroepitaxial structures (Jacobs et al. in J Electron Mater 37:1480. The wafer curvature (bowing) resulting from residual stress, is a likely source of problems that may occur during subsequent processing. This includes cracking of the film and substrate during post-growth annealing processes or even certain characterization techniques. In this work, we examine dynamic curvature and stress during molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), of CdTe on Si and GaAs substrates. The effect of temperature changes on wafer curvature throughout the growth sequence is documented using a multi-beam optical sensor developed by K-Space Associates. This monitoring technique makes possible the study of growth sequences which employ annealing schemes and/or interlayers to influence the final residual stress state of the heteroepitaxial structures.