Low Defect Density Mercury Cadmium Telluride on Silicon by Bulk Layer Transfer

Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) has been described as one of the most technologically significant semiconductor materials and is the most widely used material for long wave infrared (LWIR) imaging. The current challenge is to produce MCT over large focal plane array size at low cost and high reliability without compromising sensitivity or noise performance. MCT on silicon substrates is highly attractive for cost and handling reasons and for thermal matching to silicon readout electronics. SRICO proposes to develop wafer bonding and physical layer transfer technology to form bulk quality low defect density (MCT) films on silicon substrates. In Phase I, SRICO will experimentally prove the feasibility of the proposed technology in forming low defect density MCT on silicon substrates. Electrical and optical test structures will be fabricated and tested to qualify the device quality of the material. In a Phase II effort, SRICO would build and test prototype large format focal plane imaging arrays based on the MCT layer transfer technology developed in Phase I.