Mid Sweden University

This thesis involves a study the fabrication and characterization of photon radiation detectors. The focus has been to develop and improve the performance of optical measurement systems, but also to reduce their cost. The work is based on the study of two types of detectors, the position sensitive detector and the thermal detector.

Infrared detectors are usually subcategorized into photonic detectors and thermal detectors. In the thermal detectors, heat generated from the incident infrared radiation is converted into an electrical output by some sensitive element. The basic structure of these detectors consists of a temperature sensitive element connected to a heat sink through a thermally isolating structure. Thin membranes of Silicon and Silicon nitride have been commonly used as thermally insulation between the heat sink and the sensitive elements. However, these materials suffer from relatively high thermal conductivity, which lowers the response of the detector. The fabrication of these membranes also requires rather advanced processing techniques and equipment. SU-8 is an epoxy based photoresist, which has low thermal conductivity and requires only standard photolithography. A new application of SU-8 as a self-supported membrane in a thermal detector is presented. This application is demonstrated by the fabrication and characterization of both an infrared sensitive thermopile and a bolometer detector. The bolometer consists of nickel resistances connected in a Wheatstone bridge configuration, whereas the thermopile uses serially interconnected Ti/Ni thermocouple junctions.

The position sensitive detectors include the lateral effect photodiodes and the quadrant detectors. Typical applications for these detectors are distance measurements and as centering devices. In the quadrant detectors, the active region consists of four pn-junctions separated by a narrow gap. The size of the active region in these detectors depends on the size of the light spot. In outdoor application, this spot size dependence degrades the performance of the four-quadrant detectors. In this thesis, a modified four-quadrant detector having the pn-junctions separated by a larger distance has been fabricated and characterized. By separating the pn-junctions the horizontal electric filed in the active region is removed, making the detector spot size insensitive.

Linearity of the lateral effect photodiodes depends on the uniformity of the resistive layer in the active region. The introduction of mechanical stress in an LPSD results in a resistance change mainly due to resistivity changes, and this affects the linearity of the detector. Measurements and simulations, where mechanical stress is applied to LPSDs are presented, and support this conclusion.

This thesis presents work related to new types of photo detectors and their applications. The focus has been on the development of process technology and methods by means of experimentation and measurements. The overall aim has been to develop and improve photon radiation measurement applications which are possible to manufacture using standard Si processing technology.

A new type of position sensitive detector that has switching possibilities based on the MOS principle has been fabricated and characterized. The influence of mechanical stress on the linearity of position sensitive detectors has been investigated. The results show that mechanical stress arising, for example, by the mounting of detectors in capsules can have an impact on device performance. Under normal circumstances these effects are rather small, but are considered to be worthwhile taking into account.

Electroless deposition of Nickel including various dopants in porous silicon was performed to manufacture electrical contacts for this interesting material. After heat treatment it was confirmed by X-ray diffraction that Nickel silicide had been formed and I-V measurements show that different contacts exhibit Ohmic and rectifying behaviour.

Spectrometers are used extensively in the process and food industry to measure both the chemical content and the amount of substances used during manufacturing. These instruments are often rather bulky and costly, though the trend is towards smaller and more portable equipment. A spectrometer based on an array of Fabry-Perot interferometers mounted close to an array detector is shown to be a viable option for the manufacture of a very compact device. Such a device has minimal intermediate optics and it may be possible, in the future, for it to be developed and completely integrated with a detector array into a single unit.