Abstract
The formation of inhomogeneities in CdxHg1-x Te alloys upon post-growth cooling or upon low-temperature annealing is simulated numerically. The mechanism of the formation of inhomogeneities is based on the diffusion instability in a system involving mercury atoms located at lattice sites, interstitial mercury atoms, and cation vacancies. It is revealed that, upon prolonged annealing of the CdxHg1-x Te alloys with a cadmium content x = 0.2 at a temperature of ∼200°C, the concentrations of mercury atoms at lattice sites, interstitial mercury atoms, and vacancies are characterized by an inhomogeneous nearly periodical distribution arising from a small fluctuation when the initial equilibrium concentration of interstitial mercury atoms exceeds a threshold value (∼3 × 1017 cm−3). The spatial and time scales of the concentration distribution are determined primarily by the equilibrium concentration of vacancies and do not depend on the type of fluctuation involved. The spatial period of the concentration distribution increases linearly from 0.01 to 3.00 μm as the equilibrium concentration of vacancies changes from 1019 to 1014 cm−3. At lower concentrations of vacancies, the periodic structure is formed for a considerably longer time.
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Vasin, A.S., Vasilevsky, M.I. Simulation of diffusion instability of a mercury atomic distribution in the cadmium-mercury-tellurium alloy. Phys. Solid State 48, 37–41 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063783406010082
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063783406010082