SBIR-STTR Award

Semiconductor alloy crystals such as mercury cadmium telluride are needed for a variety of applications such as the fabrication of infrared focal plane arrays. Defense related applications of these arrays include: surveillance, target detection, acquisition and tracking, missile guidance, thermal imaging, navigational aids and night vision etc. Based on Xacton's experience in the growth of II-VI compounds, especially the remarkable success achieved in the growth of excellent quality mercury cadmium telluride, here we propose a new and innovative approach for the development of the traveling heater method for the growth of large diameter crystals of mercury cadmium telluride and other materials. In this approach, the uniformity of the growing crystals is achieved as a result of thermodynamic constraints rather than by the balancing of dynamic parameters to avoid interface breakdown. Anticipated benefits/potential commercial applications - production of high quality crystals of compound semiconductor alloys for various military and commercial applications. These include optical devices such as lasers, emitters and detectors.

High quality crystals of mercury cadmium telluride are needed for a variety of applications such as the fabrication of infrared focal plane arrays. Defense related applications of these arrays include: surveillance, target detection, acquisition and tracking, missile guidance, thermal imaging, navigational aids and night vision. Commercial applications include fiber-optic communications, medical and scientific instruments and infrared astronomy. A major bottleneck in the achievement of these applications has been the availability of high quality single crystal wafers of mercury cadmium telluride. In Phase I, xacton has achieved a major breakthrough in the growth technology of mercury cadmium telluride. In Phase II we propose to:(i) optimize the process for the fabrication of high quality infrared focal plane arrays and(ii) establish the reproducibility of the process.