THE MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY (MBE) HAS THE PROMISE OF GROWING HIGH PURITY HGCDTE (HCT) MATERIAL (ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANTINFRARED DETECTOR MATERIAL TODAY) CAPABLE OF RESOLVING CURRENT PROBLEMS OF HIGH NOISE AND HIGH NON-UNIFORMITY IN THE DETECTOR ARRAYS.

THE MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY (MBE) HAS THE PROMISE OF GROWING HIGH PURITY HGCDTE (HCT) MATERIAL (ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANTINFRARED DETECTOR MATERIAL TODAY) CAPABLE OF RESOLVING CURRENT PROBLEMS OF HIGH NOISE AND HIGH NON-UNIFORMITY IN THE DETECTOR ARRAYS. PERFORMING THE MBE GROWTH OF HCT IN SPACE BY TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF NEAR-ZERO GRAVITY, NATURALLY ULTRA-HIGH VACUUM CONDITION, LOW CONTAMINATION ENVIRONMENT AND "INFINITE" HIGH VACUUM VOLUME, THE TECHNIQUEIS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING EVEN HIGHER QUALITY MATERIAL FOR PRODUCIBLE, HIGH PERFORMANCE DETECTOR ARRAYS, ESPECIALLY ARRAYS IN THE LWIR. WE HAVE PROPOSED A STUDY TO DEVELOP IN DETAIL THE CONCEPT OFMBE GROWTH IN SPACE. THE STUDY HAS BEEN SCOPED WITH SIX SPECIFIC TASKS, AIMED AT REFINING THE SPACE PROCESSING CONCEPT AND DESIGNING A SPECIAL MBE SYSTEM TAILORED TO THE GROWTH OF ULTRA-HIGH QUALITY HCT MATERIALS IN SPACE.