J. Sangrador et al., HG1-XCDXTE - ELECTRICAL AND STRUCTURAL-CHANGES INDUCED BY RAPID THERMAL ANNEALING, Journal of crystal growth, 151(3-4), 1995, pp. 254-260
The combined electrical and structural characterization of encapsulate
d HgCdTe annealed in a rapid thermal processor under different tempera
tures and times is presented. Hall effect measurements are used for th
e determination of the changes in carrier concentration and mobility p
roduced during the annealing, while structural changes due to the ther
mal treatment are deduced from channelled proton-induced X-ray emissio
n measurements. The results indicate that both the carrier concentrati
on and mobility change homogeneously throughout the crystal, reaching
equilibrium values that are only a function of the annealing temperatu
re. The evolution towards equilibrium of each parameter can be fitted
to exponential laws, the time constants being a function of the anneal
ing temperature. However, the time required to reach the equilibrium m
obility is always longer (by about X3.5) than that needed to saturate
the carrier concentration, for the same temperature. The crystallinity
of the samples also shows a dependence on the annealing temperature.
These changes are explained on the basis of generation and annihilatio
n of mercury vacancies through the interaction with tellurium precipit
ates.