Enabling on-axis InSb crystal growth for high-volume wafer production: characterizing and eliminating variation in electrical performance for IR focal plane array applications

Abstract

InSb focal plane array (FPA) detectors are key components in IR imaging systems that significantly impact both cost and performance. Detector performance is affected by the electronic and crystallographic quality and uniformity of the semiconductor substrate. High-volume, high-yield production of InSb wafers to the standards required for FPA device manufacture requires growth of on-axis {111} crystals. An inherent source of variation hindering on-axis Czochralski crystal growth is anisotropic dopant incorporation. We report on newly developed growth methods that eliminate the negative effects of anisotropic dopant incorporation enabling high volume manufacturing of {111}-oriented substrates and discuss the consequential manufacturing benefits. We also report on a characterization technique to characterize microscale dopant variation across the wafer.