Engineering Commons^™

Noise And Gain Characterization Of Interband Cascade Infrared Photodetectors, Eli A. Garduño

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Infrared (IR) detectors are an enabling technology for a broad and growing list of applications including gas detection, night vision, and space-based missile warning. There are ongoing efforts in IR detector research to explore the potential of new material systems and energy band structures in addition to continuously improving their sensitivity through increasing their quantum efficiency and lowering their dark current and noise. This dissertation examines an emerging class of IR detectors known as Interband Cascade Infrared Photodetectors (ICIPs).

ICIPs contain multiple regions to facilitate the collection of photogenerated electrons and to limit unwanted dark current. Theory regarding their performance …

Antimonide-Based Superlattice Membranes For Infrared Applications, Seyedeh Marziyeh Zamiri

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Semiconductor membranes offer an interesting materials and device development platform due to their ability to integrate dissimilar materials through a print, stamp and transfer process. There is a lot of interest in integrating antimonide based type-II superlattices (T2SL) onto inexpensive substrates, such as Si, to not only undertake fundamental studies into the optical, electronic and structural properties of the superlattices but also to fabricate wafer-level infrared (IR) photodetectors. An effective approach to transfer type-II superlattice membranes (T2SL-M) onto alternate substrates is based on membrane release from the native GaSb substrate followed by the transfer to a new host substrate. In …

Multispectral Metamaterial Detectors For Smart Imaging, John A. Montoya

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The ability to produce a high quality infrared image has significantly improved since its initial development in the 1950s. The first generation consisted of a single pixel that required a two-dimensional raster scan to produce an image. The second generation comprised of a linear array of pixels that required a mechanical sweep to produce an image. The third generation utilizes a two-dimensional array of pixels to eliminate the need for a mechanical sweep. Third generation imaging technology incorporates pixels with single color or broadband sensitivity, which results in 'black and white' images. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on …