The Basic Science Underlying CdMgTe Passivation Of SWIR HgCdTe
Abstract
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 and the Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Act for 2015 allocated $23.8M to assist Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI). The program aims to (a) enhance research programs and capabilities in scientific and engineering disciplines critical to the national security functions of DoD; (b) enhance the capacity of HBCU/MI to participate in defense research programs and activities; and (c) increase the number of graduates, including underrepresented minorities, in field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that are important to the defense mission. The FY 2015 DoD HBCU/MI Research and Education Program Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) solicited proposals from single investigators at HBCUs and MIs for basic research in scientific areas important to one or more the three defense research offices, namely: Army Research Office (ARO); Office of Naval Research (ONR); and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). In addition to supporting research for a 36-month period, each grant will support up to four students with tuition, stipends, fees, and other justified expenses. They propose fundamental research to examine the effects of their passivation approach on Hg1-xCdxTe (MCT) materials for short-wave infrared (SWIR) detectors. The approach consists of two main tasks. 1. Molecular Beam Epitaxy Growth and Passivation Studies of SWIR MCT: Specific technical tasks are described leveraging our previous work. MCT starting material will be obtained by collaboration with Army Research Laboratory via student exchange under the new Open Campus initiative. Materials will be transferred to Texas State University for MBE growth of the passivation layers. 2. Optical Characterization: Extensive optical measurements will be used for understanding the effect of passivation on carrier dynamics. They describe photoconductance decay, photo-luminescence (PL) spectroscopy, time-resolved PL (TRPL), and PL-intensity (PL-I) studies for minority carrier lifetime and interface state determination, combined with IR cathode-luminescence (CL) for defect density determination. They have extensive background in these techniques for understanding fundamental and applied aspects of materials properties. TRPL and PL-I have not been extensively employed to study MCT. Furthermore, our unique CL system is custom designed for the IR ranges. Combined, these studies will provide new understanding of optical processes related to minority carrier and interface properties in MCT. Results will direct the optimization of the passivation approach.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 12, 2017
- Source ID
- W911NF1510399
Entities
People
- T. H. Myers
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Texas State University