O. K. Wu

Direct growth of CdZnTe/Si substrates for large-area HgCdTe infrared focal plane arrays

Direct epitaxial growth of high-quality 100lCdZnTe on 3 inch diameter vicinal {100}Si substrates has been achieved using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE); a ZnTe initial layer was used to maintain the {100} Si substrate orientation. The properties of these substrates and associated HgCdTe layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) and subsequently processed long wavelength infrared (LWIR) detectors were compared directly with our related efforts using CdZnTe/ GaAs/Si substrates grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The MBE-grown CdZnTe layers are highly specular and have both excellent thickness and compositional uniformity. The x-ray full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the MBE-grown CdZnTe/Si increases with composition, which is a characteristic of CdZnTe grown by vapor phase epitaxy, and is essentially equivalent to our results obtained on CdZnTe/GaAs/Si. As we have previously observed, the x-ray FWHM of LPE-grown HgCdTe decreases, particularly for CdZnTe compositions near the lattice matching condition to HgCdTe; so far the best value we have achieved is 54 arc-s. Using these MBE-grown substrates, we have fabricated the first high-performance LWIR HgCdTe detectors and 256 x 256 arrays using substrates consisting of CdZnTe grown directly on Si without the use of an intermediate GaAs buffer layer. We find first that there is no significant difference between arrays fabricated on either CdZnTe/Si or CdZnTe/GaAs/Si and second that the results on these Si-based substrates are comparable with results on bulk CdZnTe substrates at 78K. Further improvements in detector performance on Si-based substrates require a decrease in the dislocation density.

Heteroepitaxy of HgCdTe(112) infrared detector structures on Si(112) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy

High-quality, single-crystal epitaxial films of CdTe(112)B and HgCdTe(112)B have been grown directly on Si(112) substrates without the need for GaAs interfacial layers. The CdTe and HgCdTe films have been characterized with optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction, wet chemical defect etching, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. HgCdTe/Si infrared detectors have also been fabricated and tested. The CdTe(112)B films are highly specular, twin-free, and have x-ray rocking curves as narrow as 72 arc-sec and near-surface etch pit density (EPD) of 2 × 106 cm−2 for 8 µm thick films. HgCdTe(112)B films deposited on Si substrates have x-ray rocking curve FWHM as low as 76 arc-sec and EPD of 3-22 × 106 cm−2. These MBE-grown epitaxial structures have been used to fabricate the first high-performance HgCdTe IR detectors grown directly on Si without use of an intermediate GaAs buffer layer. HgCdTe/Si infrared detectors have been fabricated with 40% quantum efficiency and R0A = 1.64 × 104 Ωm2 (0 FOV) for devices with 7.8 µm cutoff wavelength at 78Kto demonstrate the capability of MBE for growth of large-area HgCdTe arrays on Si.

High performance HgCdTe two-color infrared detectors grown by molecular beam epitaxy

High-performance in situ doped two-color detectors with the n-p-n architecture for the sequential detection of mid: and long-wave infrared radiation were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. These detector structures were twin-free, and exhibited narrow rocking curves ( 45 arcsec) as determined by X-ray measurements. The near surface etch pit densities in these device structures were typically (2-3) x 10 6 cm -2 . The structures were processed as mesas and their electrical properties measured. The spectral response of the mid-wave and long-wave diodes in the integrated detector were characterized by sharp turn-on and turn-off in both bands. Average R o A values of 100 Ω cm 2 at 10.5 μm and 5.5 x 10 5 Ω cm 2 at 5.5 μm were measured at 77 K. These results are comparable to those of the best unispectral detectors and represents a significant milestone for MBE-grown HgCdTe two-color devices

Direct molecular-beam epitaxial growth of ZnTe(100) and CdZnTe(100)/ZnTe(100) on Si(100) substrates

Epitaxial structures of ZnTe(100) and CdZnTe(100)/ZnTe(100) have been deposited by molecular‐beam epitaxy onto Si(100) substrates misoriented from 0° to 8° towards the [011] direction. The films were characterized with x‐ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and stylus profilometry. Single‐crystal CdZnTe(100) films comparable in structural quality to those obtained with growth on GaAs/Si composite substrates have been demonstrated on both 4° and 8° misoriented Si with the use of ZnTe buffer layers. X‐ray rocking curves with FWHM less than 300 arcsec for ZnTe (400) and less than 160 arcsec for CdZnTe(400) have been obtained for as‐grown films. Specular surface morphologies, superior to those obtained on GaAs/Si composite substrates, are also observed.

Mbe growth of HgCdTe avalanche photodiode structures for low-noise 1.55 μm photodetection

Molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) has been utilized to fabricate HgCdTe heterostructure separate absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiodes (SAM-APD) sensitive to infrared radiation in the 1.1-1.6 μm spectral range, as an alternative technology to existing III-V APD detectors. Device structures were grown on CdZnTe(211)B substrates using CdTe, Te, and Hg sources with in situ In and As doping. The composition of the HgCdTe alloy layers was adjusted to achieve both efficient absorption of IR radiation in the 1.1-1.6 μm spectral range and low excess-noise avalanche multiplication. The Hg 1-x Cd x Te alloy composition in the gain region of the device, = 0.73, was selected to achieve equality between the bandgap energy and spin-orbit splitting to resonantly enhance the impact ionization of holes in the split-off valence band. The appropriate value of this alloy composition was determined from analysis of the 300 K bandgap and spin-orbit splitting energies of a set of calibration layers, using a combination of IR transmission and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. MBE-grown APD epitaxial wafers were processed into passivated mesa-type discrete device structures and diode mini-arrays using conventional HgCdTe process technology. Device spectral response, dark current density, and avalanche gain measurements were performed on the processed wafers. Avalanche gains in the range of 30-40 at reverse bias of 85-90 V and array-median dark current density below 2 x 10 -4 A/cm 2 at 40 V reverse bias have been demonstrated.

Molecular beam epitaxial growth and performance of integrated multispectral HgCdTe photodiodes for the detection of mid-wave infrared radiation

In situ doped HgCdTe two-color detectors with the n-p-n geometry were grown by molecular beam epitaxy, for the simultaneous detection of two closely spaced bands in the mid-wave infrared spectrum. The average near-surface etch pit densities in these layers were 5 x10 6 cm -2 , which is a factor of 10 higher than that observed for the lattice-matched growth of Hg 1-x Cd x Te (x =0.22) layer on Cd 0.96 Zn 0.04 Te substrates. The 0.04% lattice mismatch between the Hg 1-x Cd x Te (x = 0.35) epilayer and the Cd 0.9 Zn 0.04 Te substrate produces plastic deformation of the epilayer which results in an increased dislocation densities in the epilayer. The alloy composition across the device structure along the growth direction was determined by secondary ion mass spectrometric analysis, and deviated by less than 1% from the target. The device structures were processed as diodes with the mesa architecture and tested. The spectral response of the detectors at 77 K was characterized by sharp turn off at 3.7 and 4.4 μm. R 0 A values in excess of 1 x 10 6 Ω cm 2 and quantum efficiencies greater than 75% were measured for diodes in each band.

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of HgCdTe midwave infrared multispectral detectors

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been utilized to fabricate high performance HgCdTe infrared detectors with sensitivity to midwave infrared radiation in adjacent spectral bands for two-color thermal imaging applications. Growth of a multilayer HgCdTe device structure by MBE enables the use of an n-p-n device architecture that facilitates pixel-level registration of images in two separate spectral bands. Device structures were grown on CdZnTe(211)(B) substrates using CdTe, Te, and Hg sources with in situ In and As doping. The composition of the HgCdTe alloy layers was adjusted to achieve detection of infrared radiation in adjacent spectral bands in the 3.5–4.5 μm wavelength range. As-grown device structures were characterized with x-ray diffraction, wet chemical defect etching, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Mesa type devices were patterned using reactive ion etching and ohmic contacts were made to the two n-type layers for operation of the detectors in a sequential detection mode. The spectral respo...

Direct MBE growth of CdZnTe on Si(100) and Si(112) substrates for large-area HgCdTe IRFPAs

Molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) has been utilized to deposit single crystal films of ZnTe and CdZnTe/ZnTe onto Si(100) and Si(112) substrates. Parallel epitaxy of ZnTe(100) and CdZnTe(100)/ZnTe(100) has been observed for growth on Si(100) substrates misoriented from 0-8 degrees towards the [011] direction. With ZnTe initiation layers, high quality CdZnTe(100) films have been demonstrated on both 4° and 8° misoriented Si(100) with x-ray rocking curve FWHM as narrow as 158 arc-seconds, which is comparable to that obtained with GaAs/Si composite substrates. The observed surface morphologies are superior to those obtained on GaAs/Si composite substrates. HgCdTe(100) films with x-ray FWHM as low as 55 arcseconds and average etch pit densities of 5 x 106 cm2 have been deposited by liquid phase epitaxy on these MBE CdZnTe/ZnTe/Si(100) substrates. On vicinal Si(1 12) substrates, ZnTe films are observed to nucleate in either the (1 12) or its twin (552) orientation depending on the misorientation of the Si substrate away from (1 12). For Si(1 12) misorientations of 5° or 10° towards from the [1 1-1] direction, ZnTe nucleates in a parallel (1 12) orientation, while for misorientations of 0° or 5° away from the [1 1-1] direction, ZnTe is observed to nucleate in a (552) orientation. CdTe deposited on ZnTe/Si(112) is observed to nucleate in the same orientation as the ZnTe. CdTe(552) epilayers are of substantially higher quality than (1 12)oriented films. X-ray rocking curves as narrow as 1 10 arc-seconds have been observed for the CdTe(331) reflection in the case of (552)-oriented epitaxy.

HgCdTe molecular beam epitaxy technology: a focus on material properties

HgCdTe MBE technology is becoming a mature growth technology for flexible manufacturing of short-wave, medium-wave, long-wave, and very long-wave infrared focal plane arrays. The main reason that this technology is getting more mature for device applications is the progress made in controlling the dopants (both n-type and p-type in-situ) and the success in lowering the defect density to less than 2 x 105/cm2 in the base layer. In this paper, we will discuss the unique approach that we have developed for growing As-doped HgCdTe alloys with cadmium arsenide compound. Material properties including composition, crystallinity, dopant activation, minority carrier lifetime, and morphology are also discussed. In addition, we have fabricated several infrared focal plane arrays using device quality double layers and the device results are approaching that of the state-of-the-art liquid phase epitaxy technology.

MBE-grown HgCdTe heterojunction structures for IR FPAs

HgCdTe MBE technology offers many advantages for the growth of multi-layer heterojunction structures for high performance IRFPAs. This paper reports data on major advances towards the fabrication of advanced detector structures, which have been made in MBE technology at Hughes Research Laboratories during the last couple of years. Currently device quality materials with desired structural and electrical characteristics are grown with the alloy compositions required for short-wavelength infrared (SWIR, 1 - 3 micron) to very long- wavelength infrared (VLWIR, 14 - 18 micron) detector applications. In-situ In (n-type) and As (p-type) doping developed at HRL have facilitated the growth of advanced multi-layer heterojunction devices. Thus, high performance IR focal plane arrays (128 X 128) with state-of-the-art performance have been fabricated with MBE-grown double-layer heterojunction structures for MWIR and LWIR detector applications. In addition, the growth of n-p-p-n multi-layer heterojunction structures has been developed and two-color detectors have been demonstrated. Recently, significant preliminary results on the heteroepitaxy growth of HgCdTe double-layer heterojunction structures on silicon have been achieved.