Photon trapping photodiode design in HgCdTe mid-wavelength infrared focal plane array detectors

Photon trapping photodiode design in HgCdTe mid-wavelength infrared focal plane array detectors is investigated in this work, utilizing the finite-difference time-domain technique. The quantum efficiency and the current–voltage characteristics have been numerically simulated, using Crosslight Technology Computer Aided Design software. Simulation results indicate that dark current is reduced more significantly in the photon trapping photodiode than in the mesa photodiode while maintaining the same quantum efficiency.     

等效噪声温度测量驻波分析

针对某致冷接收机系统等效噪声温度测试数据存在较为显著的疑似驻波问题,对测量数据进行了振幅谱分析和周期函数拟合。首先设计了分析方法,通过模拟数据对方法进行了有效性检验。之后分析了实测数据,并针对测量误差较大的问题,采用了事先平滑的处理方法,显著降低了拟合参数的不确定性,得到了各周期分量较为准确的特征参数,为后续链路和器件驻波的排查与处理、致冷接收机系统的调试提供了参考。     

Modeling of dark characteristics for long-wavelength HgCdTe photodiode

A data-processing approach has been developed to obtain device parameters from resistance–voltage (R–V) characteristics measured on long-wavelength HgCdTe n-on-p photodiodes. A simple carrier density approximation is proposed to take account of carrier degeneracy and conduction band non-parabolicity into its physical model. Some basic parameters and their estimated errors can be extracted from the measured R–V curves. The method is applied to fit the R–V curves measured at different temperatures. We also analyze larger amount of long-wavelength HgCdTe n-on-p photodiodes, and obtain statistical device parameters.     

Parametric-amplifier study of photodiode noise

The noise of diffused and alloyed germanium photodiodes was studied over the frequency range from 2 kHz to 20 MHz. A photodiode noise factor is introduced to describe the noise. The intrinsic noise, which may exceed the shot noise, depends on the shape of the current-voltage characteristic. The noise due to fluctuations in light intensity was measured.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii Fizika, No. 11, pp. 55–58, November, 1970.     

Analysis of the mechanisms of electron recombination in HgCdTe infrared photodiode

This paper presents an experimental study of minority carrier lifetime and recombination mechanisms in HgCdTe photodiode. The excitation light source is a wavelength-tunable pulsed infrared laser. A constant background illumination has been introduced to minimize the effect of the junction equivalent capacitor and resistance. The decay of the photo-generated voltage is recorded by a storage oscilloscope. By fitting the exponentially decay curve, the time constant has been obtained which is regarded as the photo-generated minority carrier lifetime of the HgCdTe photodiode. The experimental results show that the carrier lifetime is in the range of 18–407 ns at 77 K for the measured detectors of four Cd compositions. It was found that the Auger recombination process is more effective for low Cd composition while the radiative recombination process became more important for high composition materials. The Shockley–Read–Hall recombination processes could not be ignored for all Cd composition.     

降噪阵列参数对次声降噪系统性能的影响分析

次声降噪系统对提高次声监测能力具有重要作用,为分析次声降噪系统阵列结构参数变化对其降噪性能的影响规律,构建玫瑰型(rosette)管道滤波器降噪系统声电等效模型,进而利用风噪声模型和仿真数据对该模型的单进气口传递函数和系统降噪性能进行了定量分析,总结了不同阵列结构参数对该系统降噪性能的影响规律,最后对国际监测系统(International Monitoring System,IMS)玫瑰型管道滤波器的降噪性能进行了评估。仿真实验及分析结果表明:(1)进气口数量约取96,阵列尺寸约18 m,一、二级管内径取10~20 mm,一、二级合成腔体积不得超过1 L,系统能获得较好的降噪性能;(2)IMS玫瑰型管道滤波器符合最佳阵列参数设置要求;(3)满足最佳阵列参数设置的玫瑰型管道滤波器可大幅度地提高信噪比。该分析结果可为已有次声降噪系统提供性能评估,可对新的次声降噪系统设计提供参考。     

降噪阵列参数对次声降噪系统性能的影响分析

次声降噪系统对提高次声监测能力具有重要作用,为分析次声降噪系统阵列结构参数变化对其降噪性能的影响规律,构建玫瑰型(rosette)管道滤波器降噪系统声电等效模型,进而利用风噪声模型和仿真数据对该模型的单进气口传递函数和系统降噪性能进行了定量分析,总结了不同阵列结构参数对该系统降噪性能的影响规律,最后对国际监测系统(International Monitoring System,IMS)玫瑰型管道滤波器的降噪性能进行了评估。仿真实验及分析结果表明:(1)进气口数量约取96,阵列尺寸约18 m,一、二级管内径取10~20 mm,一、二级合成腔体积不得超过1 L,系统能获得较好的降噪性能;(2)IMS玫瑰型管道滤波器符合最佳阵列参数设置要求;(3)满足最佳阵列参数设置的玫瑰型管道滤波器可大幅度地提高信噪比。该分析结果可为已有次声降噪系统提供性能评估,可对新的次声降噪系统设计提供参考。     

Principal component analysis of non-uniformity in electrical characteristics of HgCdTe photodiode arrays

We present a method of analyzing the non-uniformity in electrical characteristics of HgCdTe photodiode arrays for infrared imaging applications. We have selected dynamic resistance–voltage (R–V) characteristics for analyzing electrical behavior of HgCdTe photodiodes because the dynamic resistance at a given operating voltage directly governs the imager performance and being derivative of current–voltage (I–V) characteristics, it has little impact of the constant shifts due to stray illumination during dark measurements, relaxing the stringent requirement of perfect dark conditions to some extent for performance analysis. We have demonstrated that by using statistical analysis such as correlation of the selected signatures and their principal component analysis, we can identify the root cause of the high non-uniformity among sensor pixels in the array. The method has been implemented using theoretical I–V model of MWIR HgCdTe photodiodes, but it is generic and may be implemented on any other types of diode arrays for theoretical or experimental analysis of their non-uniformity.     

The noise equivalent circuit model of quantum-dot lasers

We derive the noise equivalent circuit model of semiconductor self-assembled quantum-dot (QD) lasers (SAQDL) from the rate equations including Langevin noise sources. This equivalent circuit allows a straightforward calculation of the noise of an SAQDL combined with electronic components. Using the presented model, we study how the carrier dynamics influences relative intensity noise (RIN) of QD lasers. We demonstrate that RIN is degraded with larger inhomogeneous broadening. Furthermore, we show that RIN is enhanced for lower quantum-dot coverage level.     

PV型HgCdTe线阵探测器的光学串扰

针对MCT红外焦平面阵列器件普遍存在的光串扰问题进行研究,从器件内部结构上,建立了线阵器件理论计算模型,并基于载流子连续性方程,利用Comsol软件对光串扰的大小进行了数值定量计算,研究了不同探测器结构尺寸、温度和材料等参数对光串扰的影响;从器件外部结构上,利用几何光学,研究了外部光学结构对光串扰的影响。研究结果表明,器件内部的衬底外延层厚度与器件外部的真空层对光串扰的影响最大,为今后红外焦平面器件结构的改进提供了一定的理论指导。     

A new circuit model of HgCdTe photodiode for SPICE simulation of integrated IRFPA

We propose a novel sub circuit model to simulate HgCdTe infrared photodiodes in a circuit simulator, like PSPICE. We have used two diodes of opposite polarity in parallel to represent the forward biased and the reverse biased behavior of an HgCdTe photodiode separately. We also connected a resistor in parallel with them to represent the ohmic shunt and a constant current source to represent photocurrent. We show that by adjusting the parameters in standard diode models and the resistor and current values, we could actually fit the measured data of our various HgCdTe photodiodes having different characteristics. This is a very efficient model that can be used for simulation of readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for HgCdTe IR photodiode arrays. This model also allows circuit level Monte Carlo simulation on a complete IRFPA at a single circuit simulator platform to estimate the non-uniformity for given processes of HgCdTe device fabrication and Si ROIC fabrication.     

吸收层特性和异质结界面电荷对12.5 μm长波HgCdTe光伏探测器响应率的影响研究

研究了12.5 μm长波HgCdTe探测器的吸收层厚度和异质结界面电荷对器件光响应率的影响.分析了吸收层厚度与吸收长度、扩散长度之间的联系,获得了设计最佳吸收层厚度的经验公式.研究结果显示入射光波长超过截止波长时,响应率随吸收层厚度增加单调增加,并逐渐饱和.响应率峰值对应的波长随吸收层厚度增加,有向长波偏移的趋势.最佳吸收层厚度值随少子寿命或入射光波长的增大而增大.同时,研究了衬底、钝化层与HgCdTe材料之间异质界面电荷对光响应率的影响,发现正的界面电荷在衬底异质结界面处形成诱导pn结,对响应率影响显著 关键词： 长波HgCdTe器件 光伏型红外探测器 光响应率 少子寿命     

Effect of temperature on pulsed laser deposition of HgCdTe films

HgCdTe thin films have been deposited on Si(1 1 1) substrates at different substrate temperatures by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). An Nd:YAG pulsed laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm was used as laser source. The influences of the substrate temperature on the crystalline quality, surface morphology and composition of HgCdTe thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that in our experimental conditions, the HgCdTe thin films deposited at 200 °C have the best quality. When the substrate temperature is over 250 °C, the HgCdTe film becomes thermodynamically unstable and the quality of the film is degraded.     

Crosstalk suppressing design of GaAs microlenses integrated on HgCdTe infrared focal plane array

In this study, crosstalk suppressing design of dielectric GaAs microlenses integrated on a traditional HgCdTe infrared focal plane array is presented, by exploiting the finite difference time domain technique. Responsive photocurrent of the objective pixel and crosstalk between adjacent detectors have been numerically simulated, using commercial TCAD software Apsys, for a mid-wavelength planar array with a pitch of 20 $\upmu $ m. By properly adjusting both the microlens radius and the absorber thickness, crosstalk can be notably suppressed to less than 1 % while the photoresponse is maintained or even enhanced.     

The effect of intermittent noise on vigilance performance

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the level of predictability of intermittent noise on performance on a visual vigilance task. Under a quiet condition and three intermittent noise conditions, subjects (Ss) carried out a 55-min task where they were required to detect a change in the brightness of one element of a visual display. The results indicated that Ss were less sensitive, less accurate, and more prone to response failures during intermittent noise, although responses were faster under noise conditions. Measures of response bias and response certainty were not significantly affected by the presentation of noise. Variation in the level of predictability of the noise affected only the accuracy of response measure during the final quarter of the vigilance task, with the group receiving the least predictable noise performing significantly worse than the other three groups. The results are discussed in relation to theories of noise and performance.     

Noise performance of an InP/InGaAs superlattice avalanche photodiode

The noise performance of an InP/InGaAs Superlattice Avalanche Photodiode (SL-APD) has been studied theoretically to examine its suitability as a detector in optical receiver units. The results indicate that the device which has a very large gain-bandwidth product (450 GHz) provides a high receiver sensitivity compared to conventional APD. The device also exhibits a very low value of excess noise factor which results in a high value of signal-to-noise ratio. The SL-APD is expected to find useful applications as a high sensitivity photodetector in long-haul fibre optic communication systems. For a digital system, the device exhibits a very low value of bit-error rate (BER) even at moderate gain.     

High frequency response of near-room temperature LWIR HgCdTe heterostructure photodiodes

The high frequency response of near-room temperature long wavelength infrared (LWIR) HgCdTe heterostructure photodiodes is investigated using a Fourier space method. The MOCVD HgCdTe multilayer heterostructures were grown on GaAs substrates. The response time of devices as a function of bias has been measured experimentally by using 10-μm quantum cascade laser and fast oscilloscope with suitable transimpedance amplifier. Results of theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data. It is shown that the response time at weak reverse bias condition is mainly limited by the drift time of carriers moving into π-n+ junction. Using the reverse bias higher than 50 mV, the transit time across the absorber region limits the response time. The response time of small-area devices decreases in the region of week reverse bias achieving value below 1 ns.     

Implementation issues of the nearfield equivalent source imaging microphone array

This paper revisits a nearfield microphone array technique termed nearfield equivalent source imaging (NESI) proposed previously. In particular, various issues concerning the implementation of the NESI algorithm are examined. The NESI can be implemented in both the time domain and the frequency domain. Acoustical variables including sound pressure, particle velocity, active intensity and sound power are calculated by using multichannel inverse filters. Issues concerning sensor deployment are also investigated for the nearfield array. The uniform array outperformed a random array previously optimized for far-field imaging, which contradicts the conventional wisdom in far-field arrays. For applications in which only a patch array with scarce sensors is available, a virtual microphone approach is employed to ameliorate edge effects using extrapolation and to improve imaging resolution using interpolation. To enhance the processing efficiency of the time-domain NESI, an eigensystem realization algorithm (ERA) is developed. Several filtering methods are compared in terms of computational complexity. Significant saving on computations can be achieved using ERA and the frequency-domain NESI, as compared to the traditional method. The NESI technique was also experimentally validated using practical sources including a 125 cc scooter and a wooden box model with a loudspeaker fitted inside. The NESI technique proved effective in identifying broadband and non-stationary sources produced by the sources.     

用光电二极管列阵测干涉条纹周期的精度分析

分析了用1024单元的光电二极管列阵测量干涉条纹周期时,采样密度对测量精度的影响.采样数据的量化为256,每个干涉条纹的采样点数从10至30左右时,测量精度最高,可优于2×10~(-5).量化小时,最佳采样密度变小.