High Operating Temperature Broadband Detectors for Weapon Targeting and IR Seekers

EPIR proposes to design, fabricate and deliver to US Navy broadband high operating temperature detectors and focal plane arrays (FPAs) operating at mid-wavelength-infrared (MWIR) wavelengths. To meet the response time, high frame rate, low noise and high detectivity requirements, the detectors and the FPAs will be designed to work under non-equilibrium and dark current suppression conditions. Increased operating temperature will be provided by a system based on HgCdTe utilizing optimized material parameters and device architectures. The suppression of dark current associated with thermal generation processes will lead to reduced cooling requirements Molecular beam epitaxy growth technique will be used for HgCdTe material growth to achieve the desired device architecture design, composition, doping and defect control. Post-growth thermal processes will be optimized to reduce the doping level as well as defect density. During the Phase I program, we will design, simulate, prototype and demonstrate the proposed dark current suppression concept. This will enable detector operation above 125K with the required response time, detectivity and noise characteristics. During Phase I, we will also identify suitable read-out integrated circuits (ROICs). The fabricated arrays will be hybridized with commercial or custom designed ROICs during Phase II of the project.