Rapid development of high-volume manufacturing methods for epi-ready GaSb wafers up to 6” diameter for IR imaging applications

Abstract

We present a new method to produce low-cost, high quality gallium antimonide (GaSb) substrates for IR imaging applications. These methods apply high-volume wafer manufacturing standards from the silicon industry to increase performance and value of our wafers. Encapsulant-free GaSb single crystals were grown using the modified Czochralski method, yielding more than seventy 150mm wafers per crystal or several hundred 75mm or 100mm wafers per crystal. These were processed into epi-ready substrates on which superlattice structures were grown. Wafer and epitaxy structure characterization is also presented, including transmission X-ray topography, dopant level and uniformity.