Historical perspectives on HgCdTe material and device development at Raytheon Vision Systems

P. R. Bratt; S. M. Johnson; D. R Rhiger; T. Tung; M. H. Kalisher; W. A. Radford; G. A. Garwood; C. A. Cockrum

doi:10.1117/12.822899

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7 May 2009 Historical perspectives on HgCdTe material and device development at Raytheon Vision Systems

P. R. Bratt, S. M. Johnson, D. R Rhiger, T. Tung, M. H. Kalisher, W. A. Radford, G. A. Garwood, C. A. Cockrum

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Proceedings Volume 7298, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXV; 72982U (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.822899
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2009, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

This paper reviews the historical progress of HgCdTe material and device development at Raytheon Vision Systems starting with the initial work in 1965 at what was then the Santa Barbara Research Center, a subsidiary of the Hughes Aircraft Company and progressing up to the present time. Because of the long history, all the details cannot be presented in a single paper; instead, we focus only on a few major accomplishments. In HgCdTe material preparation these include: the early bulk single crystal growth methods; the advent of liquid phase epitaxial growth from Hg melts; and, the most recent molecular beam epitaxial methods. For IR photodetector devices, we started with just single element detectors operating either in photoconductive or photovoltaic mode, then progressed to multi-element linear arrays, then to 2-D arrays on Si read-out circuits and, finally to the very large focal plane (>2k × 2k), dual-band, and APD arrays of today. Some applications of these devices in IR systems will be presented. Technical issues will be discussed only to the extent necessary to support the historical narrative. Some interesting anecdotes will be included.

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P. R. Bratt, S. M. Johnson, D. R Rhiger, T. Tung, M. H. Kalisher, W. A. Radford, G. A. Garwood, and C. A. Cockrum "Historical perspectives on HgCdTe material and device development at Raytheon Vision Systems", Proc. SPIE 7298, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXV, 72982U (7 May 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.822899

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