RESUMEN
A versatile dual-band detector capable of active and passive use is demonstrated using short-wave (SW) and mid-wave (MW) IR type-II superlattice photodiodes. A bilayer etch-stop scheme is introduced for back-side-illuminated detectors, which enhanced the external quantum efficiency both in the SWIR and MWIR spectral regions. Temperature-dependent dark current measurements of pixel-sized 27 µm detectors found the dark current density to be ~1 × 10(-5) A/cm(2) for the ~4.2 µm cutoff MWIR channel at 140 K. This corresponded to a reasonable imager noise equivalent difference in temperature of ~49 mK using F/2.3 optics and a 10 ms integration time (t(int)), which lowered to ~13 mK at 110 K using t(int)=30 ms, illustrating the potential for high-temperature operation. The SWIR channel was found to be limited by readout noise below 150 K. Excellent imagery from the dual-band imager exemplifying pixel coincidence is shown.
RESUMEN
We report a two-color mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) co-located detector with 3 µm active region thickness per channel that is highly selective and can perform under high operating temperatures for the MWIR band. Under back-side illumination, a temperature evolution study of the MWIR detector's electro-optical performance found the 300 K background-limit with 2π field-of-view to be achieved below operating temperatures of 160 K, at which the temperature's 50% cutoff wavelength was 5.2 µm. The measured current reached the system limit of 0.1 pA at 110 K for 30 µm pixel-sized diodes. At 77 K, where the LWIR channel operated with a 50% cutoff wavelength at 11.2 µm, an LWIR selectivity of ~17% was achieved in the MWIR wave band between 3 and 4.7 µm, making the detector highly selective.
RESUMEN
We report a type-II superlattice mid-wave infrared 320×256 imager at 81 K with the M-barrier design that achieved background limited performance (BLIP) and â¼99% operability. The 280 K blackbody's photon irradiance was limited by an aperture and a band-pass filter from 3.6 µm to 3.8 µm resulting in a total flux of â¼5×10(12) ph.cm(-2).s(-1). Under these low-light conditions, and consequently the use of a 13.5 ms integration time, the imager was observed to be BLIP thanks to a â¼5 pA dark current from the 27 µm wide pixels. The total noise was dominated by the photon flux and read-out circuit which gave the imager a noise equivalent input of â¼5×10(10) ph.cm(-2).s(-1) and temperature sensitivity of 9 mK with F/2.3 optics. Excellent imagery obtained using a 1-point correction alludes to the array's uniform responsivity.
RESUMEN
We report the synthesis, fabrication, and testing of a 320×256 focal plane array (FPA) of back-illuminated, solar-blind, p-i-n, Al(x)Ga(1-x)N-based detectors, fully realized within our research laboratory. We implemented a pulse atomic layer deposition technique for the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth of thick, high-quality, crack-free, high Al composition Al(x)Ga(1-x)N layers. The FPA is hybridized to a matching ISC 9809 readout integrated circuit and operated in a SE-IR camera system. Solar-blind operation is observed throughout the array with peak detection occurring at wavelengths of 256 nm and lower, and falling off three orders of magnitude by ~285 nm. By developing an opaque masking technology, the visible response of the ROIC is significantly reduced; thus the need for external filtering to achieve solar- and visible-blind operation is eliminated. This allows the FPA to achieve high external quantum efficiency (EQE); at 254 nm, average pixels showed unbiased peak responsivity of 75 mA/W, which corresponds to an EQE of ~37%. Finally, the uniformity of the FPA and imaging properties are investigated.
RESUMEN
We report a high performance long-wavelength IR dual-band imager based on type-II superlattices with 100% cutoff wavelengths at 9.5 µm (blue channel) and 13 µm (red channel). Test pixels reveal background-limited behavior with specific detectivities as high as ~5×10¹¹ Jones at 7.9 µm in the blue channel and ~1×10¹¹ Jones at 10.2 µm in the red channel at 77 K. These performances were attributed to low dark currents thanks to the M-barrier and Fabry-Perot enhanced quantum efficiencies despite using thin 2 µm absorbing regions. In the imager, the high signal-to-noise ratio contributed to median noise equivalent temperature differences of ~20 milli-Kelvin for both channels with integration times on the order of 0.5 ms, making it suitable for high speed applications.