Advances in III-V based dual-band MWIR/LWIR FPAs at HRL

Recent advances in superlattice-based infrared detectors have rendered this material system a solid alternative to HgCdTe for dual-band sensing applications. In particular, superlattices are attractive from a manufacturing perspective as the epitaxial wafers can be grown with a high degree of lateral uniformity, low macroscopic defect densities (< 50 cm-2) and achieve dark current levels comparable to HgCdTe detectors. In this paper, we will describe our recent effort on the VISTA program towards producing HD-format (1280x720, 12 μm pitch) superlattice based, dual-band MWIR/LWIR FPAs. We will report results from several multi-wafer fabrication lots of 1280x720, 12 μm pitch FPAs processed over the last two years. To assess the FPA performance, noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) measurements were conducted at 80K, f/4.21 and using a blackbody range of 22°C to 32°C. For the MWIR band, the NETD was 27.44 mK with a 3x median NETD operability of 99.40%. For the LWIR band, the median NETD was 27.62 mK with a 3x median operability of 99.09%. Over the course of the VISTA program, HRL fabricated over 30 FPAs with similar NETDs and operabilities in excess of 99% for both bands, demonstrating the manufacturability and high uniformity of III-V superlattices. We will also present additional characterization results including blinkers, spatial stability, modulation transfer function and thermal cycles reliability.