We present an overview of our technological achievements in the implementation of detector structures based on mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) heterostructures and nanostructures for IR and THz spectral ranges. We use a special MBE design set for the epitaxial layer growth on (013) GaAs substrates with ZnTe and CdTe buffer layers up to 3” in diameter with the precise ellipsometric monitoring in situ. The growth of MCT alloy heterostructures with the optimal composition distribution throughout the thickness allows for the realization of different types of many-layered heterostructures and quantum wells to prepare the material for fabricating single- or dual-band IR and THz detectors.

We also present the two-color broad-band bolometric detectors based on the epitaxial MCT layers that are sensitive in 150–300-GHz subterahertz and infrared ranges from 3 to 10 μm, which operate at the ambient or liquid nitrogen temperatures as photoconductors, as well as the detectors based on planar HgTe quantum wells. The design and dimensions of THz detector antennas are optimized for reasonable detector sensitivity values. A special diffraction limited optical system for the detector testing was designed and manufactured. We represent here the THz images of objects hidden behind a plasterboard or foam plastic packaging, obtained at the radiation frequencies of 70, 140, and 275 GHz, respectively.

The paper reports on the barrier mid-wave infrared InAs/InAsSb (x_Sb = 0.4) type-II superlattice detector operating below thermoelectrical cooling. AlAsSb with Sb composition, x_Sb = 0.97; barrier doping, N_D < 2×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ leading to valence band offset below 100 meV in relation to the active layer doping, N_D = 5×10¹⁵ cm⁻³ was proved to be proper material not introducing extra barrier in valence band in the analyzed temperature range in XBn architectures. The detectivity of the simulated structure was assessed at the level of ∼ 10¹¹ Jones at T ∼ 100 K assuming absorber thickness, d = 3 μm. The detector’s architecture for high frequency response operation, τ_s = 420 ps (T ∼ 77 K) was presented with a reduced active layer of d = 1 μm.