Abstract
Results are presented for minority carrier lifetime in n-type molecular beam epitaxy Hg1−xCdxTe with x ranging from 0.2 to 0.6. It was found that the lifetime was unintentionally degraded by post-growth annealing under Hg saturated conditions in a H2 atmosphere that was both time and temperature dependent. This effect was minimal or non-existent for x∼0.2 material, but very strong for x ≥ 0.3. Hydrogen was identified as responsible for this degradation. Identical annealing in a He atmosphere avoids this degradation and results in neartheoretical lifetime values for carrier concentrations as low 1 × 1015 cm−3 in ≥0.3 material. Modeling was carried out for x∼0.2 and x∼0.4 material that shows the extent to which lifetime is reduced by Shockley-Real-Hall recombination for carrier concentrations below 1 × 1015 cm−3, as well as for layers annealed in H2. It appears that annealing in H2 results in a deep recombination center in wider bandgap HgCdTe that lowers the lifetime without affecting the majority carrier concentration and mobility.
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Edwall, D.D., DeWames, R.E., McLevige, W.V. et al. Measurement of minority carrier lifetime in n-type MBE HgCdTe and its dependence on annealing. J. Electron. Mater. 27, 698–702 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-998-0039-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-998-0039-x