MICROWAVE EDDY CURRENT NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION OF MERCURY CADMIUM TELLURIDE (HG CD TE) MATERIALS AND DEVICES

ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND SYSTEMS FOR USE IN DEFENSE APPLICATIONS HAVE REQUIREMENTS OF MATERIAL UNIFORMITY, QUALITY ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS, MICROSTRUCTURAL INTEGRITY AND FREEDOM FROM STRESS AND DEFECTS. ALTHOUGH THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN MEETING MANY OF THESE CONDITIONS, THE INCREASING DEMANDS FOR HIGHER SPEED DEVICES AND CIRCUITS ARE STEADILY REDUCING THE MARGINS OF SAFETY. TO RESPOND TO THIS SITUATION, THIS PROPOSAL SUGGESTS THE USE OF MICROWAVEGENERATED EDDY CURRENTS IN CONJUNCTION WITH MINIATURE SENSORS TO DETECT PERTURBATIONS IN GENERATED FIELDS AS SIGNATURES OF DEFECT CONDITIONS AND MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION IN SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS AND DEVICES. THE TARGET OF OPPORTUNITY IS THE COMBINATION OF TWO NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) TECHNOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVES OF EVALUATING SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS AND INTEGRATE CIRCUITS, DEVELOPMENT OF A MICROWAVE SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLED GENERATION OF EDDY CURRENTS, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF MINIATURE SENSORS, SYSTEM CALIBRATION, ACQUISITION OF FAMILIES OF TEST DATA AND OPTIMIZATION OF A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SYSTEM. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES SHOUD LEAD TO A PROTOTYPE NDE SYSTEM DURING THE PHASE II PROGRAM AND TO COMMERCIALIZATION IN THE PHASE III PROGRAM.