A THERMAL-ELECTRICALLY COOLED QUANTUM-DOT MIDDLE-WAVE INFRARED PHOTODETECTOR WITH HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY A…

Public award description

A THERMAL-ELECTRICALLY COOLED QUANTUM-DOT MIDDLE-WAVE INFRARED PHOTODETECTOR WITH HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY AND PHOTODETECTIVITY MIDDLE-WAVE INFRARED (LWIR, 3.2-3.6 - -M) PHOTODETECTORS WITH A HIGH SPECIFIC PHOTODETECTIVITY (D*) ARE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN NASA SLIDAR AND REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER, EXISTING MWIR PHOTODETECTORS ARE REQUIRED TO BE OPERATED AT LOW TEMPERATURE OF BELOW 77K TO ACHIEVE HIGH PHOTODETECTIVITY (D*). THE REQUIREMENT FOR CRYOGENIC COOLING SYSTEMS ADDS COST, WEIGHT AND RELIABILITY ISSUES, THEREBY MAKING IT UNSUITABLE FOR SPACE AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION APPLICATIONS. THE PROPOSED STTR RESEARCH AIMS TO DEVELOP A NEW TYPE OF MWIR PHOTODETECTOR WITH A SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED QUANTUM EFFICIENCY OF ~ 60% AND PHOTODETECTIVITY OF > 10^10 CM HZ^1/2/W. SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPING THE PROPOSED INNOVATION IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE AN ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR COMPACT HIGH PERFORMANCE MWIR DETECTION AND IMAGING SYSTEMS SUITABLE FOR NASA S SPACE EXPLORATION AND EARTH REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS. IN PHASE I, A PRELIMINARY MWIR PHOTODETECTOR WITH THE HIGH SPECIFIC PHOTODETECTIVITY (D*) WILL BE DEVELOPED AND DELIVERED TO NASA FOR PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMONSTRATION. IN PHASE II, AN ULTRA-COMPACT HIGHLY-SENSITIVE FOCAL PLANE ARRAY (FPA) PROTOTYPE WILL BE DEVELOPED AND HYBRIDIZED WITH READOUT CIRCUITS. A PRELIMINARY HIGH SENSITIVITY LWIR CAMERA WILL BE ALSO DEMONSTRATED AND DELIVERED TO NASA IN PHASE II.