MBE growth and characterization of in situ arsenic doped HgCdTe

We report the results of in situ arsenic doping by molecular beam epitaxy using an elemental arsenic source. Single Hg_1−xCd_xTe layers of x ∼0.3 were grown at a lower growth temperature of 175°C to increase the arsenic incorporation into the layers. Layers grown at 175°C have shown typical etch pit densities of 2E6 with achievable densities as low as 7E4cm⁻². Void defect densities can routinely be achieved at levels below 1000 cm⁻². Double crystal x-ray diffraction rocking curves exhibit typical full width at half-maximum values of 23 arcsec indicating high structural quality. Arsenic incorporation into the HgCdTe layers was confirmed using secondary ion mass spectrometry. Isothermal annealing of HgCdTe:As layers at temperatures of either 436 or 300°C results in activation of the arsenic at concentrations ranging from 2E16 to 2E18 cm⁻³. Theoretical fits to variable temperature Hall measurements indicate that layers are not compensated, with near 100% activation after isothermal anneals at 436 or 300°C. Arsenic activation energies and 77K minority carrier lifetime measurements are consistent with published literature values. SIMS analyses of annealed arsenic doping profiles confirm a low arsenic diffusion coefficient.     

Arsenic incorporation during MBE growth of HgCdTe

We discuss the equilibrium model of the amphoteric behavior of arsenic in HgCdTe and its applicability to material grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Suggestions are made on how to achieve active incorporation by manipulating the surface orientation, or by using precursors that provide steric hindrance.     

Improving material characteristics and reproducibility of MBE HgCdTe

This paper describes our progress to improve the material quality, reproducibility, and flexibility of molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth of HgCdTe. Data, statistics, and yields according to defined screen criteria are presented for n-type layer carrier concentration and mobility, void defect density, and dislocation density for more than 100 layers. Minority carrier lifetime data are also presented. Continued improvements in impurity reductiont have allowed us to achieve, for the first time, reproducible, low n-type carrier concentration in the mid-10¹⁴ cnr⁻³ range with high electron mobility. Data are presented that show that low dislocation density films are obtained for growth on CdZnTe substrates with a wide range of Zn concentration. Results are presented from a nine-growth run first pass success demonstration run to further assess material quality reproducibility and flexibility of wavelength band tuning. These results demonstrate the promising potential of MBE growth for flexible manufacturing of HgCdTe for infrared focal plane arrays.     

Characterization of CdTe for HgCdTe surface passivation

The objectives of this work are to study the physical and chemical structure of CdTe films using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and atomic force miroscopy (AFM) and to demonstrate the usefulness of these analytical techniques in determining the characteristics of CdTe-passivation films deposited by different techniques on HgCdTe material. Three key aspects of CdTe passivation of HgCdTe are addressed by different analytical tools: a) morphological microstructure of CdTe films examined by atomic force microscopy; b) compositional profile across the interface determined by Matrix (Te)—SIMS technique; c) concentration of various impurities across the CdTe/HgCdTe structure profiled by secondary ion-mass spectrometry.     

VSWIR to VLWIR MBE grown HgCdTe material and detectors for remote sensing applications

The molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth technology is inherently flexible in its ability to change the Hg_1−xCd_xTe material’s bandgap within a growth run and from growth run to growth run. This bandgap engineering flexibility permits tailoring the device architecture to the various specific requirements. Material with active layer x values ranging from ∼0.198 to 0.570 have been grown and processed into detectors. This wide range in x values is perfectly suited for remote sensing applications, specifically the National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program that requires imaging in a multitude of infrared spectral bands, ranging from the 1.58 to 1.64 μm VSWIR (very short wave infrared) band to the 11.5 to 12.5 μm LWIR (longwave infrared) band and beyond. These diverse spectral bands require high performance detectors, operating at two temperatures; detectors for the VSWIR band operate near room temperature while the SWIR, MWIR (mid wave infra red), LWIR and VLWIR (very long wave infrared) detectors operate near 100K, because of constraints imposed by the cooler for the NPOESS program. This paper uses material parameters to calculate theoretical detector performance for a range of x values. This theoretical detector performance is compared with median measured detector optical and electrical data. Measured detector optical and electrical data, combined with noise model estimates of ROIC performance are used to calculate signal to noise ratio (SNR), for each spectral band. The SNR are compared with respect to the meteorological NPOESS system derived focal plane. The derived system focal plane requirements for NPOESS are met in all the spectral bands.     

Analysis of iodine incorporation in mbe grown CdTe and HgCdTe

A study is reported of the dynamics of dopant incorporation in iodine doped CdTe. Using a mathematical formulation, the iodine doping profiles in CdTe and HgCdTe have been fitted to experiment to obtain material parameters such as the bulk and surface diffusion and the segregation energy. Dopant profile fitting showed that iodine diffusion was insignificant and gave an iodine segregation energy of 0.6 eV and a surface diffusivity enhancement factor of 300 at a growth temperature of 230°C. The model was used to determine the effect of the growth rate and temperature for particular growth conditions.     

Full-wafer spatial mapping of macrodefects on HgCdTe epitaxial wafers grown by MBE

We have constructed an optical microscopy system to automatically locate, count, and determine the size of polycrystalline “void” defects on epitaxial layers of HgCdTe grown on CdZnTe or Si substrates. Void macrodefects are readily imaged because their polycrystalline surface is rough, and consequently they scatter light out of the image under specular reflection imaging conditions. Using a computer-controlled stage to move the wafer, a succession of individual, contiguous bright-field images is recorded over the entire wafer. Each image is analyzed by software to locate and characterize all the light-scattering objects present in the frame. Several different representations of the spatial distribution and size of defects are generated, and these can be presented either as false-color density maps or dot-location maps. In addition, various types of statistics on the defect population and size distributions are also available. These data not only convey overall information on the quality of a given wafer, and as such are quite useful for screening to determine which wafers are suitable for array fabrication, but they also allow inferences to be made concerning the origin or root cause of different classes of defects. Several examples are presented to illustrate the use of full-wafer defect mapping to identify macrodefect problems in HgCdTe growth on CdZnTe that can arise from substrate temperature lateral nonuniformity, nonmatched source flux angular distributions, substrate contamination, and intrinsic substrate imperfections.     

Lateral uniformity in HgCdTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The fabrication of high-quality focal plane arrays from HgCdTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) requires a high degree of lateral uniformity in material properties such as the alloy composition, doping concentration, and defect density. While it is well known that MBE source flux nonuniformity can lead to radial compositional variation for rotating substrates, we have also found that composition can be affected significantly by lateral variations in substrate temperature during growth. In diagnostic experiments, we systematically varied the substrate temperature during MBE and quantified the dependence of HgCdTe alloy composition on substrate temperature. Based on these results, we developed a methodology to quickly and nondestructively characterize MBE-grown layers using postgrowth spatial mapping of the cutoff wavelength from the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) transmission at 300 K, and we were able to obtain a quantitative relationship between the measured spatial variations in cutoff and the substrate temperature lateral distribution during growth. We refined this methodology by more directly inferring the substrate temperature distribution from secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements of the As concentration across a wafer, using the fact that the As incorporation rate in MBE-grown p-type layers is highly sensitive to substrate temperature. Combining this multiple-point SIMS analysis with FTIR spatial mapping, we demonstrate how the relative contributions from flux nonuniformity and temperature variations on the lateral composition uniformity can be separated. This capability to accurately map the lateral variations in the substrate temperature has been valuable in optimizing the mounting and bonding of large substrates for MBE growth, and can also be valuable for other aspects of MBE process development.     

Measurement of minority carrier lifetime in n-type MBE HgCdTe and its dependence on annealing

Results are presented for minority carrier lifetime in n-type molecular beam epitaxy Hg_1−xCd_xTe with x ranging from 0.2 to 0.6. It was found that the lifetime was unintentionally degraded by post-growth annealing under Hg saturated conditions in a H₂ atmosphere that was both time and temperature dependent. This effect was minimal or non-existent for x∼0.2 material, but very strong for x ≥ 0.3. Hydrogen was identified as responsible for this degradation. Identical annealing in a He atmosphere avoids this degradation and results in neartheoretical lifetime values for carrier concentrations as low 1 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ in ≥0.3 material. Modeling was carried out for x∼0.2 and x∼0.4 material that shows the extent to which lifetime is reduced by Shockley-Real-Hall recombination for carrier concentrations below 1 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³, as well as for layers annealed in H₂. It appears that annealing in H₂ results in a deep recombination center in wider bandgap HgCdTe that lowers the lifetime without affecting the majority carrier concentration and mobility.     

Initial evaluation of a valved Te source for MBE growth of HgCdTe

Initial results using a valved Te source for molecular beam epitaxial growth of Hg_1−xCd_xTe are described. Unlike the case for a conventional Knudsen effusion cell where the flux is controlled primarily by temperature, flux from the valved source is controlled primarily by a variable orifice capable of good closure so that the cell temperature can be fixed at the operating temperature. Operating characteristics of the source are described, and include being able to nearly instantaneously change the flux magnitude at will. Using the source for HgCdTe growth has resulted in promising composition reproducibility improvement in initial growth runs.