Bulk growth of InAsP crystal

Objective: The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. The overall goal of the R&D effort is to develop high optical quality compositionally uniform wafers of the ternary semiconductor alloy InAsP with different alloy compositions. The wafer sizes should be approximately 20 to 25 mm in cross section dimensions, and above 1 mm in thickness. Description: Infrared detectors, especially for the short wave infrared spectral range are fabricated by growing semiconductor alloy thin films having different compositions on high quality substrates. The substrate needs to be of high electronic quality, i.e., it must be of high compositional uniformity, possess very few defects, and ideally be lattice matched with the thin films. Moreover, the optical quality of the substrate needs to be high, i.e., they must transmit light at the desired wavelength range with as little absorption or scattering as possible. Ternary alloy semiconductors, due to their flexible optical transmission ranges, are ideal for infrared detector applications. However, there are no commercial suppliers for bulk ternary alloy InAsP and it is important for the Air Force to have a domestic supply source for such a material. Keywords: Semiconductors; Bulk Crystals; Wafers; Ternary Alloys; Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) detectors; CMMC Level: Level 2 (Self)