The proposed work aims to exploit several enabling materials technologies developed in the low-bandgap III-V compound antimonides (e.g., InAsSbP, InGaAsSb) by AstroPower. We have demonstrated new and modified crystal growth and epitaxy technologies including 1. ternary "virtual" substrates and compositionally-graded thick epitaxial layers with adjustable lattice parameters to overcome constraints imposed by lattice matching conditions and miscibility gaps in these materials systems; 2. epitaxial lateral overgrowth on patterned, masked substrates to effect defect filtering and stress reduction, both of which greatly improve material quality and widen the range of available bandgaps; 3. new device structures using epitaxial lateral overgrowth to provide novel device structures for resonant cavity detectors; 4. rare earth doping to reduce background impurity levels; and 5. thallium- and bismuth-containing III-V alloys for extending the spectral response wavelength to 8-12 microns. These technologies will be combined with detector and detector array design, fabrication, analysis, modeling, and characterization expertise by Jet Propulsion Laboratory to provide high-resolution, high sensitivity infrared detectors operating at room temperature in the 3- to 12-micron wavelength range.
Benefits: The near-term (1 to 2 year) anticipated benefits of this program are based on the potential timely development of detectors and relatively sophisticated arrays made possible by adapting and/or modifying already demonstrated materials technologies used for related devices
Keywords: detectors, mid-infrared, arrays, III-V compound, antimonides
