KEYWORDS: Readout integrated circuits, Mid-IR, Imaging systems, Signal detection, Nonuniformity corrections, Integrated optics, Staring arrays, Modulation transfer functions, Signal to noise ratio
Modern airborne platforms are generally equipped with Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) based on high end Infra-Red (IR) detectors. The airborne platforms put high demands on the IR detectors, both for electro-optical performance and for durability against harsh environmental conditions. Recently, these systems have evolved to also include situational awareness for the pilot, and hence are defined as Electro Optical Distributed Aperture Systems (EO-DAS). Detectors for both MAWS & EO-DAS require a large Field of View (FOV) in order to cover a solid angle of 4π steradians around the platform. However, while MAWS can be satisfied with standard resolution sensors, a high resolution detector is a must for situational awareness,. This requirement is met by large format detectors (>1 Mega pixel) having a smaller pixel pitch. In addition, a high frame rate is required for preventing image blur and for reducing the False Alarm Rate (FAR). Thus in order to maintain sufficient sensitivity and a low FAR, the IR detector must be sensitive to the full Mid-Wave IR (MWIR) band of radiation. Since MWIR detectors are cooled to cryogenic temperatures, the combination of a large format and a high frame rate is quite demanding. Furthermore, the conditions in most aerial platforms are harsh, with very high environmental temperatures, a high shock level, and significant levels of vibration. Therefore, the detector Dewar must be ruggedized and the cooler must maintain a large enough cooling capacity, even though the volume available for the detector is usually very limited. To address all of the above requirements is becoming extremely challenging. Over the years, SCD has developed several MAWS solutions that have been successfully integrated into systems and combat proven. In this paper, we review these solutions, and describe our recent development of a High Operating Temperature (HOT), 5 Mega-pixel detector optimized for both MAWS and EODAS requirements.
SCD is a leading manufacturer of MWIR InSb Focal Plane Arrays (FPA) with formats up to 3 megapixels. Using photodiode layers grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), the operating temperature is raised to ∼ 100 K, compared with 80 K for our legacy implanted junction technology. Due to the excellent manufacturability of III-V MBE materials, we have extended this approach in the development of our newer High Operating Temperature (HOT) MWIR technologies, all of which are based on XBn and XBp barrier devices which suppress the dark current generated by traps in the depletion layer. As a result we now produce a family of InAsSb XBn FPAs operating at 150 K with a cut-off wavelength of λC = 4.2 μm. Formats range between 0.33 megapixels and 5.24 megapixels and our latest "Crane" FPA has a pitch of just 5 μm. These detectors are ideal for 24/7 surveillance and long-range applications, due to large formats, increased HOT cooler reliability and very high atmospheric transmission. For applications requiring HOT full MWIR (HFMW) performance (λC = ∼ 4.9 μm), we have explored three approaches, all of which have produced operating temperatures in the range 115 - 125 K with high FPA operability and uniformity. Using a suitable design of buffer layer, we have extended the InAsSb XBn cut-off wavelength while maintaining a high quantum efficiency above 70%. Comparable performance has also been obtained in two lattice matched type II superlattice (T2SL) architectures: XBn InAs/InAsSb and XBp InAs/GaSb. The three technologies give great flexibility in design optimization, and initial production of HFMW detectors is scheduled for mid 2022.
The InAs/InSb/GaSb/AlSb family of III-V alloys and superlattice materials offer unique possibilities for band structure engineering, because they can be grown on GaSb or InSb substrates with high quality and satisfactory control of strain, doping and composition. The band profiles and oscillator strengths are also quite predictable, enabling full simulation of detector performance from a basic knowledge of layer and stack thicknesses. In conventional III-V p-n devices, Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) traps generate a significant flow of thermal carriers in the device depletion region. At SCD, we have overcome this problem by developing XBn and XBp barrier device architectures that suppress these depletion currents, leading to higher operating temperatures or lower dark currents. Our first barrier detector product was launched in 2013 and operates at 150K. It uses a mid-wave infrared (MWIR) XBn device with an InAsSb absorber well matched to the most transparent of the atmospheric windows, at wavelengths between 3 and 4.2μm. However to span the full MWIR and to sense the long-wave infrared (LWIR) spectrum, we have investigated InAs/GaSb type II superlattices (T2SLs), because they offer full tunability. In this work we show that minority carriers in n-type T2SLs are localized and diffuse by variable range hopping, even when the period is short and the valence miniband has a width of 30-40 meV. Unfortunately, this leads to sub-micron diffusion lengths and a low quantum efficiency (QE) of ~20% in a full MWIR XBn device. On the other hand, p-type layers exhibit “metallic” minority carrier transport with much longer diffusion lengths, typically ~7 μm in our LWIR device layers. The successful development of p-type devices has led to our second barrier detector product, which uses an XBp LWIR T2SL and operates at 77K with a cut-off wavelength of 9.5 μm, a focal plane array (FPA) QE of ~50% and background limited performance up to ~90K at F/3. Moreover, the FPA operability is typically above 99.5%, based on stringent production-line criteria. Together with high spatial uniformity and good temporal stability, these barrier detectors are already a realistic alternative to MCT photodiode arrays, and further products operating at other wavelengths will be launched in due course.
This article describes new imaging capabilities and technologies developed for infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) at SCD. One of the new technologies is the patterning of the back surface of the FPA, whose front surface is bonded to a silicon readout integrated circuit (ROIC). Another is the hybridization of a spectral filter to the same back surface.
Increased image resolution has been achieved by using an opaque mask on the backside of the FPA with small central apertures. The reduced fill factor of the sensor leads to lower crosstalk between neighboring pixels and a higher Nyquist frequency. A highly detailed multi-mega pixel image is obtained when the sensor is micro-scanned relative to the imaging optics.
Spectral filtering was achieved by hybridization of a designated filter to the backside of the FPA. The filter was glued to the FPA with high accuracy achieving single pixel resolution. System implementation of these SWIR sensor cameras has been demonstrated at imec and is reported in this paper.
First results are reported for a continuously varying monolithic filter deposited onto the FPA, which has a high spectral dispersion. We report electro-optical measurements on several different sensors and describe some of their key parameters.
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