The increased performance and versatility of epitaxially grown III-V Type II strained layer superlattice (T2SLS) materials led to disruption of the IR sensor industry over the last decade. Increased performance at reduced cost are highly attractive to many end customers. Access to this detector material combined with the L3Harris front-side illuminated FPA structure lend to mechanically robust FPAs with array size only limited by source detector wafer size. This paper will present an overview of the technology development at L3Harris and the progress that has been made introducing SLS material into high operating temperature (HOT) MWIR sensors, LWIR sensors and dual-band (MW/MW & MW/LW) sensors.
L3Harris has developed a multispectral sensor architecture that opens doors to the incorporation of enabling functionality for future applications. This sensor architecture, while detector material agnostic in nature, builds upon our type-II superlattice (T2SL) technology, which was originally developed through the tri-service Vital Infrared Sensor Technology Acceleration (VISTA) program. The sensor architecture consists of stacked absorber layers that can be individually processed as they are integrated into the sensor stack. This layer-based approach enables the insertion of additional functional structures to enhance performance, such as embedded dielectric filters for efficient spectral separation, which would not be possible in a monolithic design. Due to the additional degrees of freedom with this configuration, it is necessary to design the filter such that it is compatible with the process required to functionalize each absorber while simultaneously meeting performance requirements. In this work, we report on various filter designs impacting the performance of focal plane arrays (FPAs) having embedded dielectric filters, under various practical constraints.
Theoretical models for III-V compound multijunction solar cells show that solar cells with bandgaps of 1.95-2.3 eV are needed to create ideal optical partitioning of the solar spectrum for device architectures containing three, four and more junctions. For III-V solar cells integrated with an active Si sub-cell, GaInP alloys in the Ga-rich regime are ideal since direct bandgaps of up to ~ 2.25 eV are achieved at lattice constants that can be integrated with appropriate GaAsP, SiGe and Si materials, with efficiencies of almost 50% being predicted using practical solar cell models under concentrated sunlight. Here we report on Ga-rich, lattice-mismatched Ga0.57In0.43P sub-cell prototypes with a bandgap of 1.95 eV grown on tensile step-graded metamorphic GaAsyP1-y buffers on GaAs substrates. The goal is to create a high bandgap top cell for integration with Si-based III-V/Si triple-junction devices. Excellent carrier collection efficiency was measured via internal quantum efficiency measurements and with their design being targeted for multijunction implementation (i.e. they are too thin for single junction cells), initial cell results are encouraging. The first generation of identical 1.95 eV cells on Si were fabricated as well, with efficiencies for these large bandgap, thin single junction cells ranging from 7% on Si to 11% on GaAs without antireflection coatings, systematically tracking the change in defect density as a function of growth substrate.
Bandgap tunability achievable using metamorphic epitaxy enables maximization of photodetector performance
at target wavelengths. However, an increase in threading dislocation density (TDD), which is inherent for the growth of
relaxed, lattice-mismatched layers, could offset this advantage and severely limit detector performance. In this regard,
we are investigating the performance of InxGa1-xAs and InzGa1-zP p-i-n photodetectors as a function of TDD, by utilizing
a number of different InxGa1-xAs buffer designs. In particular, internally lattice-matched metamorphic In0.20Ga0.80As and
In0.68Ga0.32P individual p-i-n detectors are studied to optimize the buffer design and performance of optically-aligned
In0.68Ga0.32P/In0.20Ga0.80As visible/near-infrared dual-photodetectors. Reverse-bias dark current density of In0.68Ga0.32P
detectors were found to be extremely sensitive to TDD compared to that observed for In0.20Ga0.80As detectors. Nearidentical
spectral response curves were obtained for both detectors as a function of TDD due to the relative insensitivity
of the p-i-n detector structure to the minority carrier lifetime. A comprehensive comparison between the different graded
buffer designs, TDD achieved and photodetector characteristics are presented.
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