Infrared Detectors and Emitters: Materials and Devices

Notwithstanding the title of Infrared Detectors and Emitters: Materials and Devices, the major theme of this book is infrared detection, and in particular the varied materials and device technologies which compete to provide solid state detector arrays for high performance infrared imaging. One of the advantages of a book of this kind is the opportunity to compare, in a single volume, the relative merits and maturity of such a broad spectrum of infrared materials. The book deals comprehensively with the mainstream technologies of mercury cadmium telluride, indium antimonide, metal silicides, quantum wells and uncooled pyroelectrics and microbolometers. In addition, we have individual chapters on some aspiring alternatives such as lead chalcogenides, thallium-based compounds, the zinc and manganese alloys of HgTe, and low-dimensional structures using InAsSb and HgTe-CdTe. At times the enthusiasm and rivalry among the authors shows through in the claims made for their respective technologies. For example, in chapter 7 we learn that `the largest single array in use today' is a 1024×1024 element InSb array. Later, in chapter 12, we learn `the largest reported to date' is a 2048×2048 MCT array! Enthusiasm also accounts for the inclusion of topics on magnetic field sensors and transistors, which are outside the scope of the book's title. The black-and-white photographic reproductions in this book, though adequate, are small and somewhat grainy and do not do full justice to the original subjects. The book provides a useful, compact reference work for the infrared 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 experts in their chosen fields. The chapters on uncooled microbolometer arrays by R A Wood and on photovoltaic detectors in MCT by M B Reine are especially lucid and comprehensive. Peter Knowles