Vertically Integrated Silicon Carbide/Silicon Detectors for UV/Vis Multicolor Sensing

We propose to design and fabricate vertically-integrated Silicon Carbide/Silicon (SiC/Si) detectors for high-responsivity and performance Ultraviolet/Visible (UV/Vis) sensing in the ~200 to 1100 nm range. We will initially stack single sensors and integrate them with readout circuitry into a single package. The development effort will include identifying the design requirements for individual sensors, fabricating a custom SiC UV sensor for the purpose, developing and demonstrating the integration scheme (including stacked chip assembly techniques and packaging and lid selection), and readout circuit development and integration. The effort will also include a feasibility study and roadmap creation for our plans to scale this design to stacking sensor arrays into a detector system for e.g. spectroscopic applications, with significant enhancements to NASA’s capabilities in planetary science, Earth science, astrophysics, and heliophysics. Two-color detectors are typically used for measurement applications requiring increased spectral range and comprise one photodiode (for shorter-wavelegnth light) mounted over a second photodiode (for longer wavelengths). In the SiC/Si system, this requires the SiC sensor to be above the Si sensor, since SiC is transparent to visible light. The two-color sensor and detector concept allows measurements and detection in broader wavelength ranges with a more compact device. Target commercial markets include defense applications (such as rocket plume detection), biological and health applications (such as sterilization, water purification, laser surgery monitoring and feedback), industrial applications (flame detection, combustion control), semiconductor fabrication equipment applications, and metrology.