Long wavelength infrared, molecular beam epitaxy, HgCdTe-on-Si diode performance

In the past several years, we have made significant progress in the growth of CdTe buffer layers on Si wafers using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) as well as the growth of HgCdTe onto this substrate as an alternative to the growth of HgCdTe on bulk CdZnTe wafers. These developments have focused primar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of electronic materials 2004-06, Vol.33 (6), p.531-537
Main Authors: CARMODY, M, PASKO, J. G, DHAR, N. K, EDWALL, D, DARASELIA, M, ALMEIDA, L. A, MOLSTAD, J, DINAN, J. H, MARKUNAS, J. K, CHEN, Y, BRILL, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Diodes
Electronics
Exact sciences and technology
Growth from vapor
Infrared radiation
Junction diodes
Materials science
Mercury cadmium telluride
Methods of crystal growth
physics of crystal growth
Molecular beam epitaxy
Physics
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Silicon wafers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the past several years, we have made significant progress in the growth of CdTe buffer layers on Si wafers using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) as well as the growth of HgCdTe onto this substrate as an alternative to the growth of HgCdTe on bulk CdZnTe wafers. These developments have focused primarily on mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) HgCdTe and have led to successful demonstrations of high-performance 1024 × 1024 focal plane arrays (FPAs) using Rockwell Scientific's double-layer planar heterostructure (DLPH) architecture. We are currently attempting to extend the HgCdTe-on-Si technology to the long wavelength infrared (LWIR) and very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) regimes. This is made difficult because the large lattice-parameter mismatch between Si and CdTe/HgCdTe results in a high density of threading dislocations (typically, >5E6 cm^sup -2^), and these dislocations act as conductive pathways for tunneling currents that reduce the R^sub 0^A and increase the dark current of the diodes. To assess the current state of the LWIR art, we fabricated a set of test diodes from LWIR HgCdTe grown on Si. Silicon wafers with either CdTe or CdSeTe buffer layers were used. Test results at both 78 K and 40 K are presented and discussed in terms of threading dislocation density. Diode characteristics are compared with LWIR HgCdTe grown on bulk CdZnTe. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] Key words: HgCdTe-on-Si, long wavelength infrared (LWIR), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), diode performance
ISSN:0361-5235
1543-186X
DOI:10.1007/s11664-004-0042-9