Assessment of Tight Pixel Geometry Influence on Surface Chemistry of Hg1−X Cd X Te Focal Plane Array by Time of Flight–Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy: Novel Analytical Methods

Factors such as lateral control of surface chemistry, reproducible etch depths and widths, and elimination of cross-contamination are vital to achieving world-class Hg1-X Cd X Te focal plane infrared detector arrays. Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) has made significant progress toward a greater understanding of these factors. The current investigation applies time of flight–secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) to assess the manner in which Hg1-X Cd X Te surface chemistry is influenced by three different critical physical-chemical factors: (1) process chemistry, including baseline and four alternatives; (2) patterned photoresist format; and (3) etch geometry, including aspect ratio, trench depth, trench width, and unit cell spacing. The first of two patterned photoresist formats consisted of an array having 15-μm unit cells with 5-μm-wide and either 3.5-μm- or 6-μm-deep trenches. The second format consisted of a special diagnostic array of parallel dry-etched stripes having various permutations of trench depths (6 μm and 10 μm), trench widths (3 μm and 5 μm), and trench-to-trench separations (3 μm, 5 μm, and 20 μm). The surface chemistry results relative to etch-depth/width ratios, exposed Hg1−X Cd X Te area (etch widths), and trench separation distances show that these parameters have a measurable influence on cross-contaminant abundance and type and on the relative ranking of the process cleaning efficacies. Novel analytical methods for using TOF-SIMS data to qualitatively assess cleaning efficacy, geometry-dependent surface species distributions, the polar/hydrophilic and nonpolar/hydrophobic nature of the processed surface, and the dependence of cleaning efficacy on surface chemistry are also discussed. These methods are intended for use in a variety of studies.