Simulation and Characterization of the Modulation Transfer Function in Fully Delineated Type-II Superlattices Infrared Detectors

The modulation transfer function (MTF) in fully delineated 15 $\mu$ m pitch type-II superlattice (T2SL) mid-wave infrared (IR) detectors is studied theoretically and experimentally. Theoretically, a 2-D model to simulate the spot scan (SS) profile is presented and used to compute the MTF as a function of the wavelength and the array geometry (pitch size, trench width). The dependence of the detector trench on the MTF is also evaluated experimentally by the edge spread function (ESF) method according to the ISO12233 standard. The experimental results show an excellent agreement with the theoretical model, reporting an MTF of 0.61 and 0.60 at the Nyquist frequency for 1 and 2 $\mu$ m trench, respectively. With the simulation model, the effect of the increased optical crosstalk for smaller pixel pitch is discussed as a function of the trench width (0.5, 1, and 2 $\mu$ m) and incidence angle up to $\pm$ 30 $^{\circ}$ . Simulation results show MTF values at the Nyquist frequency between 0.61–0.62, 0.58–0.60, and 0.55–0.57 with an average degradation of 1%, 2%, and 7% at an angle of $\pm$ 30 $^{\circ}$ compared to normal incidence for the 10, 7.5, and 5 $\mu$ m pitch, respectively.