Mechanical Diagnostic Technique Qualification and Validation

Not Available The availability of large amount format, multicolor, staring infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPA¿s) is of utmost importance for DOD mission for the next millennium. Due to its bandgap tunability in the entire IR range and its high quantum efficiency, HgCdTe is the material of choice for multicolor IRFPA¿s. However, the development of large HgCdTe IRFPA¿s based on current hybrid technology has been seriously impeded by the thermal expansion mismatch between Cd1-xZnxTe substrate and Si readout. In addition, hybrid technology suffers from severe drawbacks. Hence the monolithic integration of HgCdTe photodetectors to the Si readout multiplexer appears to be the most advanced technology for high performance very large IRFPA¿s required for 3rd Generation sensors. In this Phase I project, we will design advanced, small pitch, multicolor (SWIR and MWIR), large format (1280 x 960) monolithic HgCdTe FPA¿s. We propose also to demonstrate the feasibility of the monolithic integration of HgCdTe photodetectors to a compatible Si CMOS readout multiplexer. In order to achieve this goal, high quality CdTe(111)B and p-on-n SWIR HgCdTe will be grown by MBE on selected areas of high density silicon CMOS readout. Photodiodes will be fabricated and the monolithic integration of arrays in the format of 16 x 1 and 4 x 4 will be achieved.