Infrared Detectors and Emitters: Materials and Devices: 8 (Electronic Materials Series, 8) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792372069 ISBN 13: 9780792372066

Publisher: Springer, 2000

Synopsis

Infrared (IR) detectors fall into two main categories, thermal and photon. The earliest detectors of IR were thermal in nature, e.g. thermometers. The subsequent developments of these detectors, such as thermopiles, resistance bolometers, Golay cells and pyroelectric detectors, can operate at ambient temperature but have disadvantages of insensitivity and slowness. A wide variety of semiconductor photon detectors have been developed and these possess very high sensitivity, high frequency response but have the disadvantage of needing cryogenic cooling, particularly at longer wavelengths. In the main, the applications have been in the military sphere, but widespread industrial and scientific applications also exist. The majority of development funding for these semiconducting IR detectors has, however, come from military sources. This book is an attempt to provide an up-to-date view of the various IR detector/emitter materials systems currently in use or being actively researched. The book is aimed at newcomers to the field and at those already working in the IR industry. It is hoped that the former will find the book readable both as an introductory text and as a useful guide to the literature. Workers in one of the various IR areas will, hopefully, find the book useful in bringing them up-to-date with other, sometimes competing, technologies. To both groups of readers we trust that the book will prove interesting, thought-provoking and a spur to further progress in this fascinating and challenging field of endeavour.

About this title

Review

`The book providesa useful, compact reference work for the infrated specialist and a good tutorial for the non-specialist, particularly through the two introductory chapters on the operating principles and assessment of devices, and theoretical sections dispersed amongst the other chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 are recommended reading before full immersion in the later chapters, which are all by well-known.'
Measured Science Technology,12:9(2001)

Synopsis

"Infrared Detectors and Emitters: Materials and Devices" provides an up-to-date view of the various detector/emitter materials systems currently in use or being actively researched. After an introduction to the history of IR detectors and emitters and the assessment methods used in both materials selection and device characterization, a review of detectors and lasers made in IV-VI materials is provided. Metal silicide Schottky IR detectors are then discussed before the emphasis switches to thermal detectors and medium wavelength IR (MWIR) detectors and emitters based on bulk and epitaxial InSb. The ternary system, InAsSb, is then discussed before the current situation in thallium-based III-V compounds, both ternary and quaternary, for IR detectors and emitters for the LW region is summarized. The dominant IR material, particularly in the LWIR region, is still mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) and chapters 10-12 focus on this system and the wide array of detectors and emitters. The final three chapters are devoted to an examination of the challenges to the dominant position of MCT in the LWIR field.

The book is aimed at newcomers to the field as well as those already working in the IR industry. The former will find the book readable both as an introductory text and as a useful guide to the literature, while those in industry will find it a valuable overview of the entire field.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792372069
• ISBN 13: 9780792372066
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 507
• Editor: Capper Peter, Elliott C.T.