NewsWise – Infrared sensors detect light in the invisible wavelength for the human eye and convert it into electrical signals, which highlight the information beyond access to first. Within the infrared spectrum, the short-wave infrared (SWIR), 1.4–3.0 micrometer (μm) wavelengths, covering the unique spectral signatures of objects, gain excellence in smoke and fog. These features make Swir unavoidable for advanced industrial applications including autonomous vehicle cameras and smart IOT sensors, where it acts as the ‘eye’ of the system.
Korea Research Institute and Science Institute (Chris, President Ho Seong Lee) has successfully developed a high quality compound semiconductor material for ultra-sensitive Swir sensor.
The Swir sensors also provide clear visual information even in low-lighting conditions, detecting both infrastructure that is reflected of objects and which are directly emitted by them. While traditionally used in military equipment such as night vision devices, SWIR sensors are now expanding in various areas, including autonomous vehicles, semiconductor process monitoring, and smart farm cameras for plant growth observation Are.
In infrared sensors, semiconductor material plays an important role in detecting light signals and converting them into electrical signals. The Swir sensor designed for advanced applications usually appoint materials made of compound semiconductor-two or more elements-which have much higher electron dynamics than single-elements which silicon semiconductors. This enlarged dynamics allow to detect unconscious light signals with better energy efficiency.
Currently, the indium gallium is grown on an indium phosphide (INP) substrate, the most commonly used compound for the Swir sensor is semiconductor material. However, Ingaas-based materials face challenge such as forged mismatched* construction and internal material limits, which obstruct the development of high-demonstrations Swir sensors.
* Errors caused by differences in forged structures of elements when depositing thin films in compound semi -circulars. These errors produce unnecessary dark current, affecting the performance of the material.
Kriss has developed these challenges as a new indium arsenide phosphide (INASP) content, developed as a light-absorbed layer on an INP substrate. Compared to Engaas, the inasp displays a low noise-to-signal ratio at room temperature, improves reliability. Additionally, its identification range is expanded from 1.7 μm to 2.8 μm without any damage in performance.
The major innovation lies at the beginning of a metamorphic (forged rest) layer to reduce fake mismatch. The research team covered a metamorphic structure that gradually adjusts the ratio of AS and P between the substrate and light-absorbed layer. This structure acts as a buffer, which prevents direct interaction between materials with different forged properties. Consequently, forged stress is significantly reduced, ensures high content quality and enables flexible bandgap adjustments.
* Bandgap: Energy gap between the states where electrons are present and not present. A broad bandgap indicates better electron dynamics and low defect density.
KRISS Semiconductor and chief researcher Song of the Metrology Group Song June Lee said, “Given the challenges in the import of compound semiconductor materials, which are classified as national strategic resources, it is mandatory to secure independent technologies. The material we have developed is ready for immediate commercialization and it is expected to be widely implemented in emerging industries, including fighter jet radar systems, pharmaceutical defect inspection and plastic recycling processes. ,
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT for the next generation compound semiconductor and was published in the Journal of the Honored Journal. Advanced functional material (If: 19) in February.
Short high-purity many quantum well for LED short-wave infrared field
The research team developed INASPSB, which provides a much stronger electron and hole imprisonment compared to the traditional INASP-based multiple quantum well (MQW) LED. This advancement effectively implicates the charge carrier within the MQW structure, which addresses issues of charge leakage and efficiency fall in the first inasp-based devices, ensuring high stability under high temperatures. As a result, LEDs incorporating inaspsb MQWS also demonstrate minimum efficiency and stable light emitting performance at high temperatures and high current density.
To address the important forged continuous mismatched (about 2.0%) between the inaspsb and the INP substrate, the researchers refined metamorphic lattice resting techniques. This approach effectively suppressed the threading dislocation caused by lattice mismatch, allowing the formation of defects-free, high quality LEDs within the inaspsb-containing MQW structures. By reducing the surface roughness of the LED device, the team successfully developed high -quality Swir light emitting devices on the INP substrate.
With these innovative procedures and material progression, inaspsb-based LEDs display significant abilities as a groundbreaking solution for various advanced applications requiring high efficiency emittters with high efficiency. These applications include detection, life science sensor, optical communication and medical diagnosis. In the recognition of its contribution to the development of high efficiency MQW LED, the study was published in the study Advanced functional material On November 7, 2024.
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