High-Performance MWIR HgCdTe on Si Substrate Focal Plane Array Development

Abstract

The development of low noise-equivalent differential temperature (NEDT), high-operability midwave infrared (MWIR) focal plane arrays (FPAs) fabricated from molecular beam epitaxial (MBE)-grown HgCdTe on Si-based substrates is reported. High-quality n-type MWIR HgCdTe layers with a cutoff wavelength of 4.90 μm at 77 K and a carrier concentration of 1–2 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ were grown on CdTe/Si substrates by MBE. Highly uniform composition and thickness over 3-inch areas were demonstrated, and low surface defect densities (voids ~5 × 10² cm⁻², micro-defects ~5 × 10³ cm⁻²) and etch pit density (~3.5 × 10⁶ cm⁻²) were measured. This material was used to fabricate 320 × 256, 30 μm pitch FPAs with planar device architecture; arsenic implantation was used to achieve p-type doping. Radiometric and noise characterization was also performed. A low NEDT of 13.8 m K at 85 K for a 1 ms integration time with f/#2 optics was measured. The NEDT operability was 99% at 120 K with a mean dark current noise of 8.14 × 10⁻¹³ A/pixel. High-quality thermal images were obtained from the FPA up to a temperature of 150 K.