Title: III-V Semiconductor Unipolar Barrier Infrared Detectors for Earth Science Applications
Presenting Author: David Ting
Organization: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Co-Author(s): Alexander Soibel, Arezou Khoshakhlagh, Sam A. Keo, Sir B. Rafol, Cory J. Hill, Anita Fisher, Edward M. Luong, Brian J. Pepper, Sarath D. Gunapala

Abstract:
The past decade has seen accelerated progress in III-V semiconductor infrared photodetector technology. The advent of the unipolar barrier infrared detector (BIRD) device architecture has in many instances greatly alleviated generation-recombination (G-R) and surface-leakage dark current issues that had been problematic for III-V photodiodes. Meanwhile advances in a variety type-II superlattices (T2SLs) such as InGaAs/GaAsSb, InAs/GaSb, and InAs/InAsSb, as well as in bulk III-V material such as InGaAsSb and metamorphic InAsSb, have provided continuously adjustable cutoff wavelength coverage from the short wavelength infrared (SWIR) to the very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR). The confluence of these developments has led to a new generation of versatile, cost-effective, high-performance infrared detectors and focal plane arrays based on robust III-V semiconductors, providing a viable alternative to HgCdTe (MCT). We will show that III-V semiconductor unipolar barrier infrared detector focal plane arrays (FPAs) with cutoff wavelengths ranging from extended-SWIR to the VLWIR have consistently demonstrated high operability and uniformity. In particular, mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) T2SL BIRD FPAs have demonstrated significantly higher operating temperature (HOT) then InSb FPAs with the same cutoff wavelength; MWIR T2SL FPAs have been developed for the CubeSat Infrared Atmospheric Sounder (CIRAS). We will report progress in developing VLWIR FPAs under the NASA Sustainable Land Imaging-Technology (SLI-T) program.