NOVEL IN SITU FIBER OPTIC FTIR PROCESS MONITOR FOR MOCVD

FOSTER-MILLER PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A NOVEL IN SITU PROCESS MONITOR TO COMPLETELY CHARACTERIZE AND CONTROL THE MOCVD GROWTH PROCESS FOR MERCURY CADMIUM TELLURIDE (MCT). IT WILL BE BASED ON FOSTER-MILLER'S HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL REMOTE FIBER OPTIC FTIR PROCESS MONITOR. THIS TOOL WAS DEVELOPED BY FOSTER-MILLER TO MONITOR AND CONTROL POLYMER REACTIONS IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS, AND IS A WINNER OF A RECENT IR-LOO AWARD. IN PHASE I, FOSTER-MILLER WILL TEAM WITH SPIRE CORPORATION AND LORAL INFRARED AND IMAGING SYSTEMS TO DEMONSTRATE KEY ELEMENTS OF OUR CONCEPT. WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THAT THE FIBER OPTIC FTIR SYSTEM CAN MEASURE THE EPILAYER THICKNESS AND COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS GAS PHASE COMPOSITIONS AND GAS PHASE REACTIONS. WE WILL ALSO RESOLVE KEY ISSUES OF PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION SO THAT THE SYSTEM WILL BE READY FOR IMMEDIATE INTEGRATION INTO AN MOCVD REACTOR. IN COOPERATION WITH SPIRE CORPORATION, WE WILL INTEGRATE THE MONITOR INTO AN MOCVD SYSTEM IN PHASE II. REPRODUCIBLE GROWTH OF MCT EPILAYERS WITH IMPROVED UNIFORMITY IN PHASE II, WILL FORM A FIRM BASIS FOR A COMMERCIALLY SUPPORTED PHASE III PROGRAM. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PRECISE CHARACTERIZATION AND CONTROL OF THE MOCVD PROCESS, AFFORDED BY THIS MONITOR, WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE YIELD AND REPRODUCIBILITY OF THE MCT EPILAYERS. THIS WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN FOCAL PLANE ARRAY AND IR DETECTOR SYSTEM COSTS TO DOD. DARPA AND DOD WILL HAVE A POWERFUL IN SITU PROCESS MONITOR THAT CAN SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE REPRODUCIBILITY AND YIELD OF MANY SEMICONDUCTOR FABRICATION PROCESSES, INCLUDING THE MOCVD III-V COMPOUNDS. KEY WORDS - FIBER OPTIC REMOTE SPECTROSCOPY, MERCURY CADMIUM TELLURIDE, MOCVD, IN SITU PROCESS MONITOR, IR ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY, FOCAL PLANE ARRAYS.