CRYSTAL GROWTH AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A VARIABLE BANDGAP SEMIMAGNETIC SEMICONDUCTOR: HG1-XMNXTE

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WORK IS A RESPONSE TO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE EFFORT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO ULTIMATELY MANUFACTURE A LOW COST, RELIABLE AND EFFECTIVE TURNABLE FREQUENCY FAR INFRARED (IR) DETECTOR THAT CAN BE PLACED UPON BOTH OUR OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE WEAPONS SYSTEMS. THE MATERIAL THAT WILL BE INVESTIGATED IS THE "SEMIMAGNETIC" SEMICONDUCTOR HG 1-X MN X TE, A SISTER COMPOUND TO HG 1-X CD X TE. EVEN THOUGH THE SEMIMAGNETCI SEMI-CONDUCTOR HAS SIMILAR PROPERTIES TO HG 1-X CD X TE, HG 1-X MN X TE HAS A UNIQUE FEATURE WHICH ALLOWS ITS BAND GAP TO BE CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY AS A FUNCTION OF APPLIED MAGNETIC FIELD. WE ARE PROPOSING A TWO-FOLD RESEARCH PROGRAM. FIRST, HG 1-X MN X TE WILL BE GROWN BY A SPECIALLY DESIGNED, PROVEN EFFECTIVE UNIDIRECTIONAL CRYSTAL BOULE (UXB) SOLIDIFICATION TECHNIQUE. SECOND, A NOVEL, NON-DESTRUCTIVE X-RAY TOPOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE WHICH ALLOWS THE DEFECT STRUCTURE IN THE MATERIAL TO BE DIAGNOSED WILL BE FURTHER DEVELOPED USING REAL-TIME X-RAY IMAGE INTENSIFICATION IN WHICH BRIMROSE IS PIONEER.