DEVELOPMENT OF ALXGA1-XN ALLOY SEMICONDUCTORS FOR SOLAR-BLIND ULTRAVIOLET SEEKER APPLICATIONS

Current seeker systems for tracking intercontinental or theater ballis tic missiles generally use the thermally generated infrared signatures of the missiles' exhaust plumes as their targets. This detection meth od requires extensive filtering to remove high-intensity Earth and sky backgrounds and, in airborne systems, active cooling of window materi als. A considerable advantage would be obtained if the chemically gene rated ultraviolet signature were used as the target. The Applied Physi cs Laboratory is conducting research to design wide-bandgap GaN and Al xGa1-xN semiconductor photodetectors to meet such applications and to develop a prototype seeker system.