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High
Performance, TE-Cooled, Long Wave Infrared HgCdTe Detectors--Fermionics
Corporation, 4555 Runway Street, Simi Valley, CA
93063-3479; 805-582-0155, www.fermionics.com
Mr.
Steven S. Terterian, Principal Investigator, sterterian@fermionics.com
Dr.
C. C. Wang, Business Official,
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER83834
Amount:
$500,000
Thermo-electrically
(TE) cooled, long wave infrared detectors, with superior performance for remote
chemical sensing of different compounds, are needed for the monitoring of
weapons of mass destruction. Current
technology suffers from device degradation and large leakage currents, which
render them unusable for the most part. This
project will incorporate advanced, liquid phase epitaxy growth to fabricate high
quality HgCdTe detectors with a novel structure, i.e., where the junction is in
the large band-gap region, providing more robustness.
The
leakage current also will be reduced, along with detector noise, while
maintaining the superior characteristics of the HgCdTe device.
In Phase I, detectors with a cut-off wavelength of 10 µm, operating at
TE-cooled temperatures, were produced. These
detectors showed very good performance characteristics with typical detectivity
of 2-4x108 Jones. Phase
II will gradually extend the cut-off wavelength of the devices beyond 10 µm,
while improving the photo-response. Four
packaged TE-cooled detectors will be sent to DOE, one every six months, during
Phase II.
Commercial Applications and Other
Benefits
as described by awardee: Low
cost, high performance, TE-cooled detector systems should have application to
the remote sensing of dangerous chemicals, as well as to anti-terrorist efforts
and security applications.