IR Photodetectors from Applied Optoelectronics
Applied Optoelectronics Inc., in collaboration with Dr. Gail Brown et al. at the Air Force Research Laboratory, announces the fabrication of new long-wavelength infrared photodetectors. The detectors, when operated as photoconductors at cryogenic temperatures (10 K), exhibit cutoff wavelengths from 12 to over 19 microns. The devices are composed of InAs/InGaSb type-II superlattices, and are fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy using a revolutionary bonded substrate developed by Applied Optoelectronics Inc. The use of this substrate improves the device photoresponse by a factor of six compared to a control sample utilizing a standard GaSb substrate. The use of the GaAs-based bonded substrate allows far infrared radiation to pass through the substrate. Current efforts are aimed at creating arrays of such detectors that can be integrated with readout circuitry utilizing standard epi-side down bonding techniques. This is a great improvement over conventional lattice-matched substrates such as GaSb, which are not transparent to long-wavelength infrared radiation, requiring either thinning the GaSb substrate to below 20 mm, or attaching the readout circuitry to the substrate side of the device.
The work was supported by the BMDO SBIR Phase-I program and Air Force Research Lab s Phase-I SBIR program.
For more information, contact Thompson Lin at 713-743-3594, or on the internet, look up http://www.ao-inc.com/
Web site: http://www.ao-inc.com/
