Extreme Radiation Hardness and Space Qualification of AlGaN Optoelectronic Devices
Unprecedented radiation hardness and environment robustness are required in the new generation of high energy density physics (HEDP) experiments and deep space exploration. National Ignition Facility (NIF) break-even shots will have a neutron yield of 1015 or higher. The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) mission instruments will be irradiated with a total fluence of 1012 protons/cm2 during the space journey. In addition, large temperature variations and mechanical shocks are expected in these applications under extreme conditions. Hefty radiation and thermal shields are required for Si and GaAs based electronics and optoelectronics devices. However, for direct illumination and imaging applications, shielding is not a viable option. It is an urgent task to search for new semiconductor technologies and to develop radiation hard and environmentally robust optoelectronic devices. We will report on our latest systematic experimental studies on radiation hardness and space qualifications of AlGaN optoelectronic devices: Deep UV Light Emitting Diodes (DUV LEDs) and solarblind UV Photodiodes (PDs). For custom designed AlGaN DUV LEDs with a central emission wavelength of 255 nm, we have demonstrated its extreme radiation hardness up to 2x1012 protons/cm2 with 63.9 MeV proton beams. We have demonstrated an operation lifetime of over 26,000 hours in a nitrogen rich environment, and 23,000 hours of operation in vacuum without significant power drop and spectral shift. The DUV LEDs with multiple packaging styles have passed stringent space qualifications with 14 g random vibrations, and 21 cycles of 100K temperature cycles. The driving voltage, current, emission spectra and optical power (V-I-P) operation characteristics exhibited no significant changes after the space environmental tests. The DUV LEDs will be used for photoelectric charge management in space flights. For custom designed AlGaN UV photodiodes with a central response wavelength of 255 nm, we have demonstrated its extreme radiation hardness using a 65 MeV proton beam line. The solar-blind AlGaN photodiodes retained ~50% responsivity up to 3x1012 protons/cm2 fluence. The Stanford-NSTec-SETI team will continue to develop radiation hard optoelectronic devices for applications under extreme conditions.
- Research Organization:
- National Security Technologies, LLC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC52-06NA25946
- OSTI ID:
- 992594
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NV/25946-1079; TRN: US1100402
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International Workshop on Nitride Semiconductors, Tampa, FL; September 19-24, 2010; Related Information: radiation hardness, space qualification, AlGaN, optoelectronic device
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
EMISSION SPECTRA
ENERGY DENSITY
EXPLORATION
HARDNESS
ILLUMINANCE
LIFETIME
LIGHT EMITTING DIODES
NEUTRONS
NITRIDES
NITROGEN
PHOTODIODES
PHYSICS
PROTON BEAMS
RADIATIONS
SHIELDING
SPACE FLIGHT
SPECTRAL SHIFT
THERMAL SHIELDS
US NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY
WAVELENGTHS