Development of Dilute Nitride SL Technology for VLWIR Detectors

Epitaxial Technologies' overall objective is to develop innovative detector technologies that can be used to produce enhanced quantum efficiency and high detectivity VLWIR sensors that can operate at high temperatures. The goal of Phase II will be to improve the quality of the dilute nitride SL material structures and enhance the performance of the dilute Nitride IR detectors developed in Phase I to achieve VLWIR cut-off wavelengths in excess of 14-um, detectivities greater than 1E11 Jones. We will accomplish this by building on the results of Phase I, by designing and growing dilute nitride-based strained layer superlattice detector structures and by fabricating and testing the detectors. During Phase II, we will finalize the material structure, growth process, and fabrication process of the detectors. Further in Phase II, we will design, fabricate, and test 256 x 256 FPAs and demonstrate high operating temperatures as well as high pixel uniformity with operability greater than 98% and improved resolution with reduced noise.