Advanced UV-Visible-NIR Detectors
World Record Sensitivity with Solid-State Photon-Counting Arrays in Far Ultraviolet
MDL researchers have demonstrated imaging arrays with >50% external QE in the FUV using MBE for delta doping and ALD for advanced antireflection coatings. This QE is about an order of magnitude higher than the GALEX detector and sets an unprecedented high sensitivity in this very challenging part of the spectrum. Another significant accomplishment has been the demonstration of delta-doped electron-multiplied CCDs (EMCCDs) by performing end to end post-fabrication back-illumination processing including thinning, delta doping, antireflection coatings, packaging, and characterizing fully fabricated e2v’s low light level CCDs (L3CCDs). The delta-doped L3CCDs exhibited near 100% internal QE, indicating that the only loss of photons is due to the reflection from the back surface of the device. Adding the antireflection coatings to this device, MDL has demonstrated >50% QE using advanced AR-coating for the 100–300 nm spectral range. The combination of high QE and photon counting makes it possible to replace microchannel plate-based detectors that were used in GALEX and enable imaging and spectroscopy for exciting new missions.
Current Projects
MDL Technologies Support Suborbital Flight Missions
In 2011, MDL delivered two detectors for suborbital flight missions.
World Record Sensitivity Detection in Far Ultraviolet
MDL has demonstrated imaging arrays with >50% external QE in the FUV.
8-inch Silicon Molecular Beam Epitaxy
JPL’s large wafer capacity with multi-wafer capability provides high throughput processing required for producing a large number of large-area arrays…
Back-illumination through Thinned Wafers
The capability to hybridize ultra thinned membranes to a readout array is a unique capability…
Solar-Blind UV Photocathodes
MDL is developing solar-blind photocathodes for ultraviolet detector applications, using intrinsically solar-blind gallium-nitride-based materials.
Solar-Blind Nitride Imaging Arrays
Large-bandgap semiconductors such as gallium nitride and its alloys are excellent candidate materials for fabricating solar-blind UV detectors.
Atomic Layer Deposition
Atomic layer deposition is a thin-film deposition technique where a desired film is grown using sequential surface reactions, one monolayer at a time.
High-Performance Silicon Imagers in UV-NIR
Silicon imagers continue to be the best detectors for the ultraviolet–near-infrared (UV-NIR) spectral range.
MIDEX–ISTOS
MIDEX-ISTOS is a mission concept to study the intergalactic medium and cosmic web of matter.