Good electrical contacts for high resistivity (Cd,Mn)Te crystals

We consider that semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te crystals may well successfully replace the commonly used (Cd,Zn)Te crystals as a material for manufacturing large-area X- and gamma-ray detectors. The Bridgman growth method yields good quality and high-resistivity (10{sup 9}-10{sup 10} {Omega}-cm) crystals of (Cd,Mn)Te:V. Doping with vanadium ({approx} 10{sup 16} cm{sup -3}), which acts as a compensating agent, and annealing in cadmium vapors, which reduces the number of cadmium vacancies in the as-grown crystal, ensure this high resistivity. Detector applications of the crystals require satisfactory electrical contacts. Hence, we explored techniques of ensuring good electrical contacts to semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te crystals. Our findings are reported here. Before depositing the contact layers, we prepared an 'epi-ready' surface of the crystal platelet by a procedure described earlier for various tellurium-based II-VI compound crystals. A molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) apparatus was used to deposit various types of contact layers: Monocrystalline semiconductor layers, amorphous- and nanocrystalline semiconductor layers, and metal layers were studied. We employed ZnTe heavily doped ({approx} 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3}) with Sb, and CdTe heavily doped ({approx} 10{sup 17} cm{sup -3}) with In as the semiconductors to create contact layers that subsequently enable good contact (with a narrow, tunneling barrier) to the Au layer that usually is applied as the top contact layer. We describe and discuss the technology and some properties of the electrical contacts to semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te

Tellurium precipitates in (Cd,Mn)Te:V crystals: Effects of annealing

We suggest that (Cd,Mn)Te is a suitable material for fabricating gamma- and X-ray detectors. Our investigations, reported here, are focused on producing high-quality (Cd,Mn)Te crystals with high resistivity (10{sup 9} {Omega}-cm) by the Bridgman method. As-grown, undoped (Cd,Mn)Te crystals are typically p-type, signifying that they contain excess Cd vacancies (acting as acceptors), accumulated during growth. Doping with vanadium atoms, which function as compensating centers, results in a semi-insulating material (Cd,Mn)Te:V. Properly annealing the platelets in cadmium vapors at uniform temperature reduces the number of cadmium vacancies, and lowers the level of the vanadium doping required for compensation. We found that annealing in cadmium vapors not only decreases the concentration of the native cadmium vacancies but also improves the crystal's quality. Infrared observations of the interior of the samples show that annealing in a temperature gradient perpendicular to the platelet has an additional effect, viz., the tellurium precipitates migrate towards the side where the temperature is higher. We demonstrate, with IR pictures of monocrystalline (Cd,Mn)Te:V platelets cut parallel to the (111) crystal planes, the influence on tellurium inclusions and precipitates of various conditions of annealing in cadmium vapors

Contacts for high-resistivity (Cd,Mn)Te crystals

Semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te crystals offer a material that may compete well with the commonly used (Cd,Zn)Te crystals for manufacturing large-area X- and gamma-ray detectors. The Bridgman growth method yields good quality, high-resistivity (10{sup 9} - 10{sup 10} {Omega} {center_dot} cm) crystals of (Cd,Mn)Te:V. Doping the as-grown crystals with the compensating agent vanadium ({approx} 10{sup 16} cm{sup -3}) ensures their high resistivity; thereafter, annealing them in cadmium vapors reduces the number of cadmium vacancies. Applying the crystals as detectors necessitates having satisfactory electrical contacts. Accordingly, we explored various techniques of ensuring good electrical contacts to these semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te crystals, assessing metallic layers, monocrystalline semiconductor layers, and amorphous (or nanocrystalline) semiconductor layers. We found that ZnTe heavily doped ({approx} 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3}) with Sb, and CdTe heavily doped ({approx} 10{sup 17} cm{sup -3}) with In, proved satisfactory semiconductor contact layers. They subsequently enabled us to establish good contacts (with only narrow tunneling barriers) to the Au layer that usually constitutes the most external contact layer. We outline our technology of applying electrical contacts to semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te, and describe some important properties

The chemical vapour transport growth of ZnO single crystals

Recently, ZnO attracts a wide interest as a promising material for the application in optoelectronic devices working in the blue and ultraviolet region and (when doped with magnetic impurities) in spintronic devices. Unfortunately, the technology of good, large (e.g.: 2.5-5 cm in diameter) single crystals is very difficult. even as compared with other II-VI compounds. We report on the successful growth of the ZnO crystals with a chemical vapour transport (CVT) method and on the characterisation of them. The source material is synthesised at 650 C from oxygen and zinc vapours and subsequently, baked (as a powder) to achieve stoichiometry. The crystals grow (with the rate 1-2 mm per day) in the graphite-covered quartz ampoules containing pure (6N) hydrogen or nitrogen and a small amount of water vapour. The crystals, both as-grown and annealed in pure oxygen, are characterised by the measurements of photoluminescence spectra, transmission spectra, far infrared transmission. X-ray diffraction and electrical transport. The surface region is analysed by the secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved