Compréhension des mécanismes de dopage arsenic de CdHgTe par implantation ionique

This thesis addresses the incorporation of arsenic in HgCdTe but also its activation and the related diffusion duringhigh temperature annealing. For each item, a large panel of characterization tools was used in order to obtain abetter understanding of p-type doping of HgCdTe by arsenic implantation.Irradiation induced annealing during ion implantation has been demonstrated with a saturation fluence of about2.1014 at.cm-2. A simple model enabled us to evaluate the diffusion coefficient of arsenic and to evidence the majorrole of mercury in the diffusion process. The solubility limit of arsenic in the HgCdTe alloy was determined forthe three most common compositions used for infrared applications. For arsenic concentration over this limit, theformation of arsenic-rich nanocrystals was demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy coupled with nanoscalechemical mapping. This first experimental evidence of arsenic clustering explains why some of the arsenicdoes not participate in the diffusion process. However, the exact chemical and crystallographic nature of thesenanocrystals remains unknown. The measurement of the depth profile of carrier density allows us to demonstratethe electrical inactivity of arsenic-rich nanocrystals. On the other hand, almost 100 % of the mobile arsenic is foundto be activated as an acceptor. The formation of AsHg8 complexes was proposed to explain the activation and thediffusivity of arsenic in HgCdTe.Ion implantation of nitrogen, phosphorus and antimony was studied and its behavior compared to that of arsenic.For nitrogen and phosphorus, a trapping effect that blocks the dopant diffusion was observed. Therefore, a goodquality doping cannot be achieved under these conditions. Antimony exhibits a faster diffusion than arsenic and theactivation as an acceptor of more than 21 % of mobile antimony was demonstrated. Even if the antimony behaviorseems interesting, arsenic exhibits the most promising properties for HgCdTe doping among all studied elements.As well as restoring a good crystal quality, our annealing conditions allow the activation of most of arsenic as anacceptor.Ce travail de thèse aborde l’ensemble de la problématique du dopage de type p de CdHgTe par implantation ioniqued’arsenic, de l’incorporation jusqu’à l’activation en passant par la diffusion. Pour chaque point considéré, plusieurstechniques de caractérisation ont été mises en oeuvre avec comme objectif la compréhension des mécanismes dedopage.Les dommages induits par le processus d’implantation ionique ont été étudiés d’un point de vue structural etélectrique, afin de déterminer leur influence sur les processus de diffusion et d’activation du dopant. Un effet derecuit sous irradiation a été mis en évidence lors de l’implantation ionique, avec une dose critique de saturationdes défauts estimée à 2.1014 at.cm-2. Un modèle simple a permis d’estimer le coefficient de diffusion de la partiemobile de l’arsenic et de montrer que le mercure joue un rôle majeur dans ce processus de diffusion. La limite desolubilité de l’arsenic dans CdHgTe a été déterminée pour les trois compositions d’alliage les plus utilisées dansles domaines d’applications infrarouges. Lorsque la concentration en arsenic dépasse cette limite, la formation denanocristaux riches en arsenic a été mise en évidence expérimentalement pour la première fois en combinant lamicroscopie électronique en transmission et la cartographie chimique à l’échelle nanométrique. La formation de cesnanocristaux permet d’expliquer pourquoi une partie de l’arsenic ne participe ni à la diffusion ni au dopage. Lanature chimique et cristallographique précise de ces nanocristaux reste encore à déterminer. La mesure du profil dedensité de porteurs a montré que les nanocristaux riches en arsenic ne sont pas actifs électriquement et que près de100 % de l’arsenic mobile lors du recuit d’activation présente un comportement accepteur. La formation du complexeaccepteur AsHg8 a été proposée afin d’expliquer les processus de diffusion et d’activation de l’arsenic dans CdHgTe.L’implantation des éléments azote, phosphore et antimoine a également été étudiée, et leurs comportements comparésà celui de l’arsenic. Pour les éléments azote et phosphore, un phénomène de piégeage, bloquant la diffusiondes dopants, a été mis en évidence et rend ces éléments inappropriés pour réaliser un dopage de bonne qualité.L’antimoine présente une diffusion beaucoup plus rapide que l’arsenic. De plus, l’activation en site accepteur deplus de 21 % de l’antimoine ayant diffusé lors du recuit d’activation a été démontrée. Même si le comportement del’antimoine est prometteur, parmi les éléments étudiés, l’arsenic présente les meilleures caractéristiques dans le cadred’une utilisation en tant que dopant de type p. Nos conditions de recuit permettent l’activation d’une grande partiede l’arsenic en site accepteur, tout en permettant de retrouver une bonne qualité cristalline dans la zone implantée

Discussion on diffusion current suppression in HgCdTe MWIR detectors

Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2023, Orlando, Florida, United StatesInternational audienc

Use of EBIC for MTF measurement of HOT MCT focal plane planar array with very small pixel pitches

Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2023, Orlando, Florida, United StatesInternational audienc

Discussion around IR material and structure issues to go toward high performance small pixel pitch IR HOT FPAs

In the last decade, infrared imaging detectors trend has gone for smaller pixels and larger formats. Most of the time, this scaling is carried out at a given total sensitive area for a single focal plane array. As an example, QVGA 30 μm pitch and VGA 15 μm pitch exhibit exactly the same sensitive area. SXGA 10 μm pitch tends to be very similar, as well. This increase in format is beneficial to image resolution. However, this scaling to even smaller pixels raises questions because the pixel size becomes similar to the IR wavelength, but also to the typical transport dimensions in the absorbing material. Hence, maintaining resolution for such small pixel pitches requires a good control of the modulation transfer function and quantum efficiency of the array, while reducing the pixel size. This might not be obtained just by scaling the pixel dimensions. As an example, bulk planar structures suffer from excessive lateral diffusion length inducing pixel-to-pixel cross talk and thus degrading the modulation transfer function. Transport anisotropy in some type II superlattice structures might also be an issue for the diffusion modulation transfer function. On the other side, mesa structures might minimize cross talk by physically separating pixels, but also tend to degrade the quantum efficiency due to a non-negligible pixel fill factor shrinking down the pixel size. This paper discusses those issues, taking into account different material systems and structures, in the perspective of the expected future pixel pitch infrared focal plane arrays

Small pixel pitch MCT P on N MWIR photodiodes at DEFIR: towards 7.5um and beyond with very high image quality

Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2023, Orlando, Florida, United StatesInternational audienc

Design of a small pitch (7.5µm) MWIR HgCdTe array operating at high temperature (130K) with high imaging performances

Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2022, Orlando, Florida, United StatesInternational audienceSWAPc (Size, Weight And Power-cost) is a strong trend in IR imaging systems. It requires focal planearrays with smaller pixels, operating at high temperatures. For MW systems, the full spectral band (upto 5µm) shows a strong advantage over the blue band (4.1µm) as it maximizes the number of incomingphotons from a room temperature scene. Few years ago, LETI and Lynred have been developing7.5µm pitch MCT arrays in MW full band. The first version of this technology was based on n/p diodesoperating at 110K maximum temperature. Switching to p/n using extrinsic doping allows today animportant gain in dark current, enabling operating temperature up to 130K or even higher. This paperwill describe our latest results in the design and fabrication of such HOT small pitch arrays, startingwith test chip arrays, followed by the full the characterization of 1280x1024 7.5µm pitch arrays. Firstorder figure of merit (dark current, QE…) are of course considered, but second order figure of meritwill also be discussed such as noise tails

Sub-10μm pitch HOT technologies development at Lynred

Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2023, Orlando, Florida, United StatesInternational audienc

Fabrication and characterization of a high performance NIR 2kx2k MCT array at CEA and Lynred for astronomy applications

Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2022, Orlando, Florida, United StatesInternational audienc