Project Abstract:

In spite of their wide application, long wavelength infrared photodetectors are currently costly because of inherit material limitations, which make them impossible for mass production to achieve lower costs. The purpose of this project is to investigate properties of Indium Antimony Nitride (InSbN), a new material of which band gap has been reported in the long wavelength band (depending on the Nitrogen composition). The material will be grown on Indium Antimonide (InSb) substrate by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) assisted with Radio Frequency (RF) Nitrogen plasma. As only small fraction of Nitrogen is present which causes a very small mismatch between the epilayer and the substrate, high quality of InSbN epilayer can be expected. Nitrogen incorporation in InSb bulk layer will be examined as a function of growth parameters such as Nitrogen flow rate, RF power, growth temperature, growth rate and layer thickness. Addition to that, the influence of different Nitrogen compositions on the epilayer quality, band gap and electronics properties will be studied. A simple p-n junction will then be built as a fast way to roughly test ability of the material for detector application. Finally, PIN detector structure will be investigated. As material properties which relate to detector performance and MBE growth conditions are consolidated, the project would hopefully provide an alternative solution for long wavelength infrared detector material.