ABSTRACT
The 1959 publication by Lawson and coworkers triggered the development of variable bandgap Hg1-xCdxTe (HgCdTe) alloys providing an unprecedented degree of freedom in infrared detector design [1]. During the 35th conference in Infrared Technology and Applications held in Orlando, Florida, April 13-17, 2009, a special session was organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this rst publication [2]. This session brought together most of research centers and industrial companies that have participated in the subsequent development of HgCdTe. Figure 14.1 shows the three Royal Radar Establishment inventors of HgCdTe (W. D. Lawson, S. Nielson, and A. S. Young) that disclosed the compound ternary alloy in a 1957 patent [3]. They were joined by E. H. Putley in the rst publication dated in 1959 [1].
