HGCDTE EPITAXY ON SI SUBSTRATE

A PROPOSAL IS MADE ON AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO PERFORM EPITAXIAL GROWTH OF HIGH-QUALITY HGCDTE(HCT) MATERIAL ON SILICON (SI) SUBSTRATES BY MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY (MBE). BY USING SI SUBSTRATE, A LARGE SURFACE AREA OF HCT EPITAXIAL LAYER CAN BE MADE RESULTING IN A POTENTIALLY COST-EFFECTIVE METHOD OF FABRICATING LARGE DETECTOR ARRAYS. THE PROPOSED INNOVATION FIRST EMPLOYS THE MBE TECHNIQUE TO FORM A PERFECTLY-BUFFERED SILICON SUBSTRATE ON WHICH TO PERFORM THE EPITAXY OF HCT. IT IS THEN FOLLOWED BY THE EPITAXY OF LOW DEFECT, HIGHLY UNIFORM HCT EPILAYER. THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I OF THE PROPOSED PROGRAM ARE: TO DEFINE AND DELINEATE THE COMPLETE MBE PROCESS FOR PERFORMING HGCDTE EPITAXY AND BUFFERED SUBSTRATES. TO ESTABLISH THE MBE COMPONENTS AND SUBSTRATE PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS.