Ramana Bommena

Selective growth of CdTe on patterned CdTe∕Si(211)

The authors have studied selective growth of cadmium telluride on Si(211) by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Patterned substrates were produced by optical lithography of MBE-grown CdTe∕As∕Si(211). Photoemission microscopy was used as the main tool to study selective growth. This is very powerful because Si or SiO2 can be very easily distinguished from areas covered with even small amounts of CdTe due to contrast from work function differences. It was found that CdTe grows on CdTe without sticking on bare Si areas if the temperature is sufficiently high. Based on the analysis of the temperature dependence of the growth rate of CdTe, we suggest that different physisorption energies on Si and CdTe are the main cause of this selective growth.

Effects of Inductively Coupled Plasma Hydrogen on Long-Wavelength Infrared HgCdTe Photodiodes

Bulk passivation of semiconductors with hydrogen continues to be investigated for its potential to improve device performance. In this work, hydrogen-only inductively coupled plasma (ICP) was used to incorporate hydrogen into long-wavelength infrared HgCdTe photodiodes grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. Fully fabricated devices exposed to ICP showed statistically significant increases in zero-bias impedance values, improved uniformity, and decreased dark currents. HgCdTe photodiodes on Si substrates passivated with amorphous ZnS exhibited reductions in shunt currents, whereas devices on CdZnTe substrates passivated with polycrystalline CdTe exhibited reduced surface leakage, suggesting that hydrogen passivates defects in bulk HgCdTe and in CdTe.

Influence of Hydrogenation on Electrical Conduction in HgCdTe Thin Films on Silicon

HgCdTe is the standard state-of-the-art infrared detector material for space applications. HgCdTe-based infrared photon detector performance can be hindered due to the presence of bulk crystal defects and dangling bonds at surfaces or interfaces. Passivation of such bulk defects and surfaces can potentially improve detector performance by saturating dangling bonds in dislocation cores and at surfaces. Indeed, results showing improvement of HgCdTe current–voltage characteristics after hydrogenation have been reported. Here we use multiple-carrier fitting of Hall-effect data, acquired under variable magnetic field strengths and sample temperatures, to investigate the physical influence of hydrogenation, as a passivation procedure, on HgCdTe crystalline thin films on Si(211) substrates. We find: (1) evidence of multiple active electrical carrier species in all samples, (2) evidence of surface electrical conduction before and after hydrogenation, and (3) changes in carrier concentration and mobility induced by hydrogenation.

Selective-area epitaxy of CdTe on CdTe/ZnTe/Si(211) through a nanopatterned silicon nitride mask

We report here the use of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to achieve selective-area epitaxy (SAE) and coalescence of CdTe on nanopatterned substrates with 0.5-μm-pitch arrays of CdTe/ZnTe/Si(211) seeding areas, exposed through a silicon nitride mask. The nanopatterned substrate surface morphology, crystallinity, and chemical composition were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) both before and after exposure to CdTe flux by MBE. We find a seven times wider (422) CdTe XRD rocking curve full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) for our patterned samples, when directly compared with unpatterned samples with identical growth and pregrowth conditions. We also observe that electron beam-induced carbon deposits can serve as a mask material for SAE of CdTe by MBE. Finally, we point to possible further improvements in patterned sample architectures of the future, for use in CdTe films on Si.

Thermoelectric properties of MBE-grown HgCdTe-based superlattices from 100K to 300K

We report on the thermoelectric properties of long-period HgCdTe superlattices (MCT SLs) from cryogenic temperature to room temperature. We find that the thermal conductivity is lower than the alloy value especially at low temperatures, the electrical conductivity is similar to that of alloy films, and the Seebeck coefficient is comparable to other SLs. Calculations based on Rytov’s elastic model show that the phonon group velocity is reduced due to folding by more than a factor of two relative to its value in bulk CdTe or HgTe. Thermal conductivity is found to be relatively constant over a wide range of temperatures.

Proton irradiation of MWIR HgCdTe/CdZnTe

High performance infrared sensors are vulnerable to slight changes in defect densities and locations. For example in a space application where such sensors are exposed to proton irradiation capable of generating point defects the sensors are known to suffer performance degradation. The degradation can generally be observed in terms of dark current density and responsivity degradations. Here we report results of MWIR HgCdTe/CdZnTe single element diodes dark current densities before and after exposure to 63MeV protons at room temperature to a total ionizing dose of 100 kRad(Si). We find the irradiated diodes as a group show some signs of proton-induced damage in dark current.

Two color high operating temperature HgCdTe photodetectors grown by molecular beam epitaxy on silicon substrates

The development of a broadband IR focal plane array poses several challenges in the area of detector design, material, device physics, fabrication process, hybridization, integration and testing. The purpose of our research is to address these challenges and demonstrate a high-performance IR system that incorporates a HgCdTe-based detector array with high uniformity and operability. Our detector architecture, grown using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), is vertically integrated, leading to a stacked detector structure with the capability to simultaneously detect in two spectral bands. MBE is the method of choice for multiplelayer HgCdTe growth because it produces material of excellent quality and allows composition and doping control at the atomic level. Such quality and control is necessary for the fabrication of multicolor detectors since they require advanced bandgap engineering techniques. The proposed technology, based on the bandgap-tunable HgCdTe alloy, has the potential to extend the broadband detector operation towards room temperature. We present here our modeling, MBE growth and device characterization results, demonstrating Auger suppression in the LWIR band and diffusion limited behavior in the MWIR band.

High operation temperature of HgCdTe photodiodes by bulk defect passivation

Spatial noise and the loss of photogenerated current due material non-uniformities limit the performance of long wavelength infrared (LWIR) HgCdTe detector arrays. Reducing the electrical activity of defects is equivalent to lowering their density, thereby allowing detection and discrimination over longer ranges. Infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs) in other spectral bands will also benefit from detectivity and uniformity improvements. Larger signal-to-noise ratios permit either improved accuracy of detection/discrimination when an IRFPA is employed under current operating conditions, or provide similar performance with the IRFPA operating under less stringent conditions such as higher system temperature, increased system jitter or damaged read out integrated circuit (ROIC) wells. The bulk passivation of semiconductors with hydrogen continues to be investigated for its potential to become a tool for the fabrication of high performance devices. Inductively coupled plasmas have been shown to improve the quality and uniformity of semiconductor materials and devices. The retention of the benefits following various aging conditions is discussed here.

Applications of the Infrared Measurement Analyzer: Hydrogenated LWIR HgCdTe Detectors

Low-cost silicon-based alternative substrates are an attractive choice for next-generation large-area high-resolution multicolor infrared (IR) detector arrays. However, the high density of dislocations formed during molecular-beam epitaxy growth of HgCdTe/CdTe/Si limits the performance of IR arrays, especially in the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) region. Atomic hydrogen introduced by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) into HgCdTe is expected to passivate dislocations, bulk and surface defects, removing their contributions to dark current. Passivation using ICP hydrogenation can have different effects on HgCdTe photodiode performance, depending on which class of defects is being passivated. The infrared measurement analyzer (IRMA) was used to deconvolute the effects of hydrogenation on LWIR HgCdTe photodiodes through a reverse-modeling fit of the current–voltage (I–V) characteristic. This approach results in a fit with fewer false minima, low parameter error and bias, and high confidence in extracted device parameters. A description of this tool and its application to hydrogenated HgCdTe LWIR detectors is presented. Lower dark currents have been observed after hydrogenation of fully fabricated devices. Model-fits performed on a wide variety of LWIR HgCdTe photodiodes suggest that hydrogenation provides both surface and bulk quality improvements. These benefits of ICP hydrogenation have been retained over several months.