Abstract
We present a theoretical examination of the behavior of arsenic atoms in Hg1−xCdxTe for x=0.3, focusing on the thermodynamic conditions that most closely mimic molecular beam epitaxial growth and subsequent annealing steps. We show that, for molecular beam epitaxial growth where tellurium-saturated conditions apply, arsenic incorporates onto the cation sublattice and becomes inactive. A significant fraction of these arsenic atoms are bound to mercury vacancies. We also propose a model of the activation, which involves transfer of the arsenic from the cation to the anion sublattice. The model suggests that activation anneals must be done at high enough temperatures to surmount an activation barrier, and that the phase field from tellurium- to mercury-rich conditions should be traversed slowly enough so that the cation vacancies are not filled before the site transfer can be completed.
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References
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Berding, M.A., Sher, A., van Schilfgaarde, M. et al. Modeling of arsenic activation in HgCdTe. J. Electron. Mater. 27, 605–609 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-998-0023-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-998-0023-5