Epitaxial growth, characterization, and phase diagram of HgZnTe

Abstract

E~itaxiallaye:s of Hg1 xZnx Te (O.11<x<O.22) were grown by the horizontal liquid-phase epItaxy. techmque on Cd l yZny Te substrates with 0<Jl<O.20. The structural and electrical propertIes of the Hg] _ xZnx Te layers were characterized and compared with those of epitaxial ~gl x Cdx Te. It was found that the structural and electrical properties of long-wavelength mfrared (LWIR) HgZnTe, when grown on closely lattice-matched CdZnTe substrates, are comparable to those of high-quality ~pitaxial LWIR HgCdTe. However, the annealing behavior o~ th~ Hgl x Zn, Te layers sho~s a decreased Hg diffusion rate relative to that in Hg 1 x Cd x Te. Llq~ld~s te~pe~atures of .Te~nch ternary eHg] ... zZu z )]_ y Te y solutions were measured. The prehmmary hqmdus data mdicate that, in the Te corner, the Hg-Zn-Te and Hg-Cd-Te phase diagrams are very similar.