PHDS COMPANY — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 28e

Description

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of High Energy Physics Research supports user facilities studying dark energy. The facilities include ground-based telescopes that would benefit from the availability of semiconductor focal planes with sensitivity ranging into the infrared. Greater infrared sensitivity will provide observation of red-shift data on the largest possible number of astronomical objects. The manufacture of germanium CCDs now appears possible. The addition of high-purity germanium as the substrate for the CCDs will greatly improve the sensitivity and manufacture of these CCDs. High-purity 150-mm diameter semiconductor-quality high-purity germanium wafers are being developed to fill this need. During Phase I, high-purity germanium crystals were grown, sliced, lapped, polished, and shaped into standard form-factor 150-mm diameter semiconductor wafers 675 microns thick. Preliminary testing of these wafers indicates compatibility with the processing required to make them into CCDs. Phase II will see more high-purity wafers produced and tested under varied crystal-growth conditions to develop high-purity germanium substrates that can be fabricated into working CCDs. The goal is to demonstrate working high-purity germanium CCDs by the end of Phase II.Commercial Applications and Other BenefitsThe crystal-growth variations to be researched during Phase II will have direct positive impact on the DOE high-energy physics programs with collateral benefits to satellite-based research and tactical imagers. In addition, the crystal research will positively impact the manufacture of germanium gamma-ray detectors for nuclear security, nuclear research and nuclear-medicine applications.