Pressure tuning of HgCdTe epitaxial layers—the role of the highly disordered buffer layer

Abstract

Hg1−xCdxTe alloys are unique because by increasing the Cd content x, one modifies the band structure from inverted to normal, which fundamentally modifies the dispersion of bulk and surface or edge (in the case of quantum wells) energy states. Using alloys with x close to the concentration xc at which the band inversion transition is observed and with additional application of hydrostatic pressure (p), one creates a favorable playground for studying the evolution of Dirac matter and its topological properties. In this work, cryogenic magnetospectroscopy in quantizing magnetic fields (B) at the far-infrared is used to study inter-Landau-level transitions in high-quality Hg1−xCdxTe MBE-grown epitaxial layers with x ∼ xc as a function of p up to 4.2 kbar. Special attention is paid to elucidate the role of the substrate and buffer layers, which usually modify the pressure coefficients of epitaxial layers. For this purpose, comparative measurements were carried out on as-grown epilayers with a GaAs substrate and on free-standing layers obtained by etching off the substrate. Spectra registered as a function of B (at given p) were analyzed with the help of the Kane model modified to include magnetic field. The pressure coefficient as well as the difference between conduction and valence band deformation potentials of the free-standing layer were determined at 2 K. Surprisingly, the deformation potentials and pressure coefficients of the epitaxial layer and those of the free-standing layer differed by no more than 10% in the pressure range up to 4.2 kbar. This finding questions the common belief of a dominant influence of the substrate on the pressure coefficients of epitaxial layers. We attribute the smallness of this difference to the presence of a highly disordered CdTe buffer separating the substrate from the epitaxial layer, which relaxes the transmission of strain from the substrate to the layer. Our results contribute to a better understanding of pressure experiments carried out on epitaxial layers on a substrate.