METALORGANIC ATOMIC LAYER EPITAXY FOR YBACUO SIS DETECTOR FABRICATION

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A PHASE I PROGRAM AIMED AT DEVELOPING SUPERCONDUCTOR INSULATOR SUPERCONDUCTOR (SIS) DETECTORS IN THIN FILMS OF YBACUO DEPOSITED ON SRTIO3 SUBSTRATES. WHEN OPERATEDIN THE QUANTUM MODE, OUR PROPOSED HTC BASED SIS DETECTOR CAN POTENTIALLY HAVE A VERY HIGH SENSITIVITY FOR LWIR DETECTION. WE PLAN TO USE AUNIQUE MOCVD BASED ATOMIC LAYER EPITAXY APPROACH. OUR SELECTION OF ATOMIC LAYER MOCVD ELIMINATES THE ABRUPTNESS AND THICKNESS CONTROL PROBLEMS THAT PLAGUE CONVENTIONAL MATERIAL DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES. THIS DEMONSTRATED TECHNIQUE (BY US AND SEVERAL OTHER RESEARCH GROUPS) RESULTSIN ATOMICALLY CONTROLLED INTERFACES AND SURFACES. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL RESULT IN HIGH QUALITY SINGLE CRYSTAL LAYERS OF SUPERCONDUCTINGYBACUO. WE WILL THEN DEMONSTRATE ABRUPT INSULATOR SUPERCONDUCTOR INTERFACES. WE EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL THIS TO WITHIN AN ATOMIC SCALE DUE TO THE USE OF THE ALE APPROACH. METAL INSULATOR SUPERCONDUCTOR(MIS) DEVICES WILL THEN BE FABRICATED AND CHARACTERIZED TO BE USED ASLWIR SENSORS. THE PHASE II PROGRAM WILL FOCUS ON DEPOSITING THE ENTIRE SIS JUNCTION AND FABRICATING LWIR SENORS. WE PLAN TO COLLABORATE WITH PROFESSOR SINGH OF OKLAHOMA UNIVERSITY ON THE PROPOSED EFFORT. HEWILL ACT AS A CONSULTANT TO THE PROGRAM. DR. SINGH'S EXPERTISE WITH ATOMIC LAYER EPITAXY AND SEMICONDUCTING DEVICES GIVES A HIGH SUCCESS PROBABILITY TO THE PROPOSED EFFORT. APA OPTICS AT PRESENT HAS A SID SUPPORTED PROGRAM AIMED AT DEVELOPING HTC MATERIALS FOR SENSOR APPLICATIONS. THIS ONGOING PROGRAM WILL BE HIGHLY BENEFICIAL AS IT WILL PROVIDE SEVERAL RELATED TECHNOLOGIES AT NO COST TO THE PROGRAM. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS - LWIR SENSING IS THE BASIS FOR SEVERAL DOD AND COMMERCIALAPPLICATIONS. THESE INCLUDE DIVERSE AREAS SUCH AS DETECTING AND TRACKING INCOMING MISSILES AND THE IR SPECTROSCOPY FOR