Long-wavelength (8-14μm) infrared detection ability using third-generation infrared focal plane array (FPAs) is a desideratum for aerography, military and communication. These optical bands contain tremendous information about CO2 levels, atmospheric quality and biological activity. HgCdTe infrared photodetectors are able to reach high degree of performance even to be background limited. However, the material growth process, doping techniques and capability of defect control become increasingly difficult for the shrinking bandgap. Besides, the dark current characteristic and associated noise behavior are very sensitive to the detector fabrication processes. Thereby, the growth of p-type epitaxial layer is a fundamental and significant subject for long-wavelength HgCdTe infrared photodetector.
In the past decades, hyper-spectral imaging technologies were well developed in SITP, CAS. Many innovations for system design and key parts of hyper-spectral imager were finished. First airborne hyper-spectral imager operating from VNIR to TIR in the world was emerged in SITP. It is well known as OMIS(Operational Modular Imaging Spectrometer). Some new technologies were introduced to improve the performance of hyper-spectral imaging system in these years. A high spatial space-borne hyper-spectral imager aboard Tiangong-1 spacecraft was launched on Sep.29, 2011. Thanks for ground motion compensation and high optical efficiency prismatic spectrometer, a large amount of hyper-spectral imagery with high sensitivity and good quality were acquired in the past years. Some important phenomena were observed. To diminish spectral distortion and expand field of view, new type of prismatic imaging spectrometer based curved prism were proposed by SITP. A prototype of hyper-spectral imager based spherical fused silica prism were manufactured, which can operate from 400nm~2500nm. We also made progress in the development of LWIR hyper-spectral imaging technology. Compact and low F number LWIR imaging spectrometer was designed, manufactured and integrated. The spectrometer operated in a cryogenically-cooled vacuum box for background radiation restraint. The system performed well during flight experiment in an airborne platform. Thanks high sensitivity FPA and high performance optics, spatial resolution and spectral resolution and SNR of system are improved enormously. However, more work should be done for high radiometric accuracy in the future.
Low dimensional semiconductors have attracted enormous attention in recent years. Owing to the special dimension confinement, photodetectors based on low dimensional materials and their hybrid systems exhibit considerable performance at room temperature. This differs from traditional thin-film infrared photodetectors which require liquid nitrogen cooling. In this paper, we introduce uncooled photodetectors based on one dimensional (1D) nanowires, two-dimensional (2D) materials, 2D hybrid structures and 1D/2D heterostructures. We illustrate their working mechanisms and reveal the potential for practical infrared detection.
Detection in the very long wave infrared range (LWIR, 12-15µm) using third-generation infrared focal plane array (FPAs) is essential for remote atmosphere sounding. Indeed, these wavelengths are particularly rich in information about humidity and CO2 levels and provide additional information about cloud structure and temperature profile across the atmosphere. However, the dark current characteristic and associated noise behavior of the HgCdTe photodiode in the wavelength range of 12-15µm, operating at ~77K, are very sensitive to surface passivation techniques as well as to surface material treatments. For current HgCdTe material and device technology, detection of LWIR and VLWIR energy is the subject of current research. Within this range of shrinking band-gaps in detector material, precise control of the quality of the surface passivation and treatment is of great importance. The underlying physics of dark current mechanism is theoretically investigated by using a previously developed simultaneous current extraction approach and numerical simulations.
In addition, HgCdTe electron avalanche photodiodes (e-APD) have been widely used for low-flux and high-speed application. To better understand the dark current transport and electron-avalanche mechanism of the devices and optimize the structures, we perform accurate numerical simulations of the current-voltage characteristics and multiplication factor in planar and mesa homojunction (p-i-n) HgCdTe electron-avalanche photodiodes.
This paper reports on the disappearance of photosensitive area extension effect and the novel
temperature dependence of junction performance for mid-wavelength HgCdTe detectors. The
performances of junction under different temperatures are characterized by laser beam induced current
(LBIC) microscope. The physical mechanism of temperature dependence on junction transformation is
elaborated and demonstrated using numerical simulations. It is found that Hg-interstitial diffusion and
temperature activated defects jointly lead to the p-n junction transformation depended on temperature,
and wider band gap compared with the long-wavelength HgCdTe photodiode may correlate with the
disappearance of photosensitive area extension effect.
Avalanche photodiodes(APDs) have attracted more and more attention due to their single photon detection ability.
However, low dark current is a prerequisite for APDs which are used as single photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs).In this work,Planar-type Separate Absorption Grading Charge Multiplication(SAGCM) InP/InGaAs APD are fabricated and
simulated with ISE-TCAD. We present a detailed analysis of dark current and gain experimentally and theoretically. The
effect of the generation-recombination process,the tunneling process,the surface leakage process and the multiplication
process on the total dark current are discussed.The dark current gain ratio (Id/M) is used to demonstrate the tunneling
current. Simulation results indicate that the thickness of multiplication and trap-assisted tunneling effect have a great
influence on the tunneling current:thin multiplication layer and traps will lead to a substantial increase in the tunneling current component, therefore appropriate multiplication layer thickness and low traps are necessary to obtain good APDs with low dark current. Compared with the simulation results,it shows that our APDs have low tunneling current even at
breakdown point.In addition, the distinctions between different process of dark current provide a good guidance for the
optimization of the APD.
In this paper, the physical mechanism of unipolar barrier structures is elaborated for dark current
suppression. To better understand the performance characteristics of the devices and optimize the
structures, we have performed numerical drift-diffusion simulations of both n-side and p-side InAs
based unipolar barrier photodiodes with AlAs0.18Sb0.82 barriers, as well as conventional pn junction
detectors. Numerical simulation was used to calculate the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic and R0A
values for InAs unipolar barrier photodiodes and traditional pn junction photodiodes. The performances
of different device structures have been investigated for temperatures from 150 K to 350 K. Comparing
to conventional devices, the unipolar barrier device has shown significant performance improvement.
A novel mask technique, combining high selectivity silicon dioxide patterns over high aspect-ratio
photoresist (PR) patterns has been exploited to perform mesa etching for device delineation and electrical
isolation of HgCdTe third-generation infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs). High-density silicon dioxide film
covering high aspect-ratio PR patterns was deposited at the temperature of 80°C and silicon dioxide film
patterns over high aspect-ratio PR patterns of HgCdTe etching samples was developed by standard
photolithography and wet chemical etch. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the surfaces of
inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etched samples are quite clean and smooth. The etching selectivity between
the novel mask and HgCdTe of the samples is increased to above 32: 1 while the side-wall impact of etching
plasma is suppressed by the high aspect ratio patterns. These results show that the combined patterning of
silicon dioxide film and thick PR film is a readily available and promising masking technique for HgCdTe
mesa etching.
The polarity inversion of laser beam induced current (LBIC) signal at low temperature and high
laser power density in As-doped p-type HgCdTe is investigated in this paper. It is found that the
polarity of LBIC signal reverses at 87 K compared to that at 300 K and the high laser power density is
also an important factor in inducing the LBIC signal reverse. The results demonstrate that the shape of
the LBIC signal profile is strongly dependent on the temperature of the device and the laser irradiation.
To provide a reasonable analysis for this interesting fact, a photocarrier spreading mode is presented in
this paper.
We report on the temperature-dependent extension of n-type inversion regions in mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) photodiodes at low temperatures (87 K) compared to inversion regions at room temperature (300 K). Laser-beam-induced-current (LBIC) measurement techniques are used to obtain the photosensitive area extensions of n-type inversion in HgCdTe photodiodes for typical n+-on-p HgCdTe photovoltaic IR detectors. The effect of temperature on the extension of n-type conversion region is investigated by considering the sign of the LBIC signal. Theoretical results show that the hole concentration decreases in multidoped HgCdTe due to the freeze-out effect as the temperature decreases. Consequently, hole concentration is much lower than electron concentration at 87 K. The n-type inversion region extension is shown to be caused with the p-to-n type conversion.
The optical bandgap and photoresponse characteristics of middle-wavelength infrared (MWIR) mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe) photodiodes have been performed based on a self-consistent solution of the Poisson's equation, the electron/hole continuity equations, and three-generation-recombination processes as Auger, Shockley-Read-Hall and optical generation recombination. Three different carrier-density approximations: (i) parabolic conduction-band approximation, (ii) Bebb's nonparabolic expression, and (iii) Harman's nonparabolic approximation, are proposed to calculate the optical bandgap and photoresponse of MWIR HgCdTe photovoltaic devices by considering the carrier degeneracy and the nonparabolic conduction band. It is found that omitting nonparabolic effect can lead to an enormous deviation in the simulation result, especially for heavily doped HgCdTe devices. On the basis of the calculated results of photoresponse, the parabolic conduction-band and Harman's nonparabolic approximations can lead to the response peak shift to short and long wavelengths, respectively.
The current-voltage and photo-response characteristics of middle wavelength infrared
(MWIR) HgCdTe photodiodes have been performed based on a self-consistent solution of the
Poisson's equation, the electron/hole continuity equations, and three
generation-recombination processes as Auger, Shockley-Read-Hall and optical generation
recombination. Three different carrier density approximations, (1) parabolic conduction band
approximation, (2) Bebb's non-parabolic expression, and (3) Harman's non-parabolic
approximation, are proposed to simulate the I-V curve and photo-response of MWIR HgCdTe
photovoltaic devices by considering the carrier degeneracy and the non-parabolic conduction
band. It is found that omitting non-parabolic effect can lead to an enormous deviation in the
simulation result, especially for heavily doped HgCdTe devices. Based on the calculated
results of photo-response, the parabolic conduction band and Harman's non-parabolic
approximation can lead to the response peak shift to short and long wavelength, respectively.
This paper reports on the temperature-dependent extension of n-type inversion regions in
HgCdTe photodiodes at low temperatures (87 K) compared to inversion regions at room
temperature (300 K). Laser-beam-induced-current (LBIC) measurement techniques are used
to obtain the photosensitive area extensions of n-type inversion in HgCdTe photodiodes for
typical n+-on-p HgCdTe photovoltaic IR detectors. The effect of temperature on the extension
of n-type conversion region is investigated by considering the sign of the LBIC signal.
Theoretical results show that the hole concentration decreases in multi-doped HgCdTe as the
temperature decreases. Consequently hole concentration is much lower than electron
concentration at 87 K. It is demonstrated that the n-type inversion region extension is caused
with the p-to-n type conversion.
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