Metasurface-enhanced absorption in a Type II superlattice detector

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with the University of Texas, Austin (UT), propose to develop a metasurface-enhanced type-II superlattice (T2SL) imaging detector that achieves significant absorption enhancement for midwave infrared wavelengths (MWIR, 3–5 μm) using an absorbing layer with average thickness that is sub-micron. MWIR imaging is critical need for unmanned aircrafts and infantry weapons systems, however the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of conventional imaging detectors (based on HgCdTe, MCT) is prohibitively high, dominated by large dewar-based cooling assemblies needed to reduce dark current to acceptable levels. By enhancing a low-noise T2SL detector with a metasurface, our imaging detector will have a higher quantum efficiency with a simultaneously-lower dark current than MCT detectors to enable infrared imaging at temperatures accessible to compact thermoelectric coolers.