Manufacture of electronic devices comprising cadmium mercury telluride with silicon-on-sapphire circuitry.

摘要

The benefits of silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) circuitry are combined with the growth of crystalline cadmium mercury telluride (CMT) in electronic devices, for example to provide fast signal processing circuits for CMT infrared detectors. A first mask is applied to a silicon layer (2) on a sapphire base (1) except at a window (6) which includes a desired site for a CMT device. After etching through the silicon to the sapphire in the window CMT (9, 10) is grown overall. A second mask (11) is then applied at the desired site only and the CMT etched away except where protected by the second mask which is then removed to reveal CMT grown on the sapphire at the desired site. The SOS circuitry (4) is provided in the silicon layer before the first mask is applied, which is only removed once the CMT processing is complete to allow metal connections between the SOS circuitry and the CMT device to be made.