Develop High Operating Temperature Infrared Detect

Next generation midwave infrared (MWIR) (3 to 5 micron) FPA’s will need to be able to operate at temperatures exceeding 170K with similar performance to InSb FPA’s. The advantages of the increased operating temperature include; reduced power consumption to under 1W, extended the camera operating time between servicing to over 10 years, and reduces the FPA cooling time to less than 30 seconds. One of the most promising new technologies is based on a novel concept called the nBn. The nBn design essentially eliminates Shockley-Read-Hall generation currents and is a diffusion limited device. The result is greatly reduced dark current and noise, compared to other midwave infrared detectors, such as p-n photodiodes. In addition, the nBn devices are passivation free which results in excellent uniformity and operability. This makes nBn ideally suited for FPAs and subsequently low power MWIR camera systems.