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The minority carrier lifetime in p-type InAs/GaSb type II superlattices (T2SLs) is quite short, typically in the region of tens of nanoseconds. In spite of this, T2SLs are becoming a viable alternative to Mercury Cadmium Telluride as the sensing material of choice for high end MWIR and LWIR infrared detectors. For example, SCD now manufactures a 640 × 512 format, 15 μm pitch LWIR focal plane array detector, with a quantum efficiency close to 50%, a pixel operability of >99.5%, and a dark current only about one order of magnitude larger than the state of the art Rule 07 value. A key to the very high performance of this detector is the use of an XBp barrier architecture that both suppresses the G-R current and allows stable passivation to all steps of the fabrication process. Since both the dark-current and photo-current in the XBp structure are diffusion limited, measurements of these quantities as a function of the device dimension provide an excellent vehicle for estimating the minority carrier lifetime and diffusion length, when performed in conjunction with k⋅p calculations of the T2SL density of states. Typical lifetime results are presented, which are consistent with values found by others using direct measurements. Diffusion lengths are reported in the range 3–7 μm, although these are not necessary limiting values.

SCD has developed advanced technologies for small pitch, large format and high operating temperature detector arrays, based on III–V materials and novel barrier architectures. These detectors operate with background limited performance in the Long-, Mid- and Short-wave infrared, with high uniformity and good stability. In all cases the pixel operability is above 99.5%.

Semi-Conductor Devices’ long-wave infrared 640 × 512/15-μm pitch type II superlattice detector is based on an XBp design with an InAs/GaSb absorbing layer and an InAs/AlSb barrier layer. The barrier architecture ensures a low, diffusion-limited, dark current and allows stable passivation to all fabrication steps. It is shown that the dark current is about 10 times the Rule 07 value and corresponds to a minority carrier lifetime of about 10 ns, while the quantum efficiency can approach within 10% of the HgCdTe value for realistic detector parameters. Detectors are now being manufactured with a reasonable yield for an operability above 99.5%, and a stable and reproducible noise equivalent temperature difference of

XBn or XBp barrier detectors exhibit diffusion-limited dark currents comparable with mercury cadmium telluride Rule-07 and high quantum efficiencies. In 2011, SemiConductor Devices (SCD) introduced “HOT Pelican D”, a 640 × 512/15-μm pitch InAsSb/AlSbAs XBn mid-wave infrared (MWIR) detector with a 4.2-μm cut-off and an operating temperature of ∼150 K. Its low power (∼3 W), high pixel operability (>99.5%) and long mean time to failure make HOT Pelican D a highly reliable integrated detector-cooler product with a low size, weight and power. More recently, “HOT Hercules” was launched with a 1280 × 1024/15-μm format and similar advantages. A 3-megapixel, 10-μm pitch version (“HOT Blackbird”) is currently completing development. For long-wave infrared applications, SCD’s 640 × 512/15-μm pitch “Pelican-D LW” XBp type II superlattice (T2SL) detector has a ∼9.3-μm cut-off wavelength. The detector contains InAs/GaSb and InAs/AlSb T2SLs, and is fabricated into focal plane array (FPA) detectors using standard production processes including hybridization to a digital silicon read-out integrated circuit (ROIC), glue underfill and substrate thinning. The ROIC has been designed so that the complete detector closely follows the interfaces of SCD’s MWIR Pelican-D detector family. The Pelican-D LW FPA has a quantum efficiency of ∼50%, and operates at 77 K with a pixel operability of >99% and noise equivalent temperature difference of 13 mK at 30 Hz and F/2.7.

▪ Abstract The review describes the studies of the magneto-optical properties of II-VI and III-V semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) capped with organic or inorganic epitaxial shells. The investigations focused on the chemical identification of localization sites (core, shell, or interface) of photogenerated carriers in spherical NCs and elucidated the influence of the surface/interface quality on the optical properties of the materials. Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectroscopy was used for the study of the proposed physical properties. The ODMR method provides the means to identify the surface/interface sites and correlate them with specific optical transition. In addition, this method reveals information about the spin multiplicity of band edge and trapped states and the electron-hole exchange interaction, determines the spectroscopic g-factors, distinguishes between the radiative and nonradiative characteristic of a trapping site, and evaluates the spin-lattice relaxation times.

Carriers in small colloidal InP nanoparticles are in strong quantum confinement regime. The low temperature photoluminescence spectrum of InP nanoparticles is composed of an excitonic luminescence at high energies and a non-excitonic defect emission band at lower energies. HF etching of the nanoparticles reduces the defect emission and enhances the exciton process.In this work we apply optically detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy (ODMR) both in continuous wave and time resolved mode (TR-ODMR) to study the defect luminescence in InP nanoparticles. The results show that the defect luminescence originates from weakly coupled electron-hole pair, where the electron is trapped at the surface by phosphorous vacancy, Vp, and the hole is located at the valence band. Additionally, the results suggest that the non-etched samples are dominated by Vp at the surface. Those are mainly eliminated upon HF treatment, leaving behind small percent of Vp in the core of the nanoparticle. We also find the electron-hole exchange interaction from circular polarized ODMR measurements. The TR-ODMR measurement further clarifies the spin dynamics and characteristic of the magnetic sites. Fitting these measurements to the simulated response of the PL intensity to the square wave modulated microwave power revealed that the spin relaxation time and radiative lifetime of electron-hole pair in the nanoparticles are in the microseconds regime.