Slider LPE of Hg1-xCdxTe using mercury pressure controlled growth solutions

Homogeneous, nearly perfect single crystals of Hg_1-xCd_xTe are extremely difficult to prepare due primarily to the high vapor pressure of mercury. However, epitaxially grown Hg_1-xCd_xTe layers have a high potential for yielding material of a substantially higher quality. Using a new, open-tube, horizontal slider-type liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) growth technique, in which mercury pressure controlled growth solutions are used, a high degree of growth solution compositional control has been demonstrated. LPE layers of Hg_1-xCd_xTe have been grown on CdTe substrates and their high quality has been confirmed by optical, transport and electron microprobe measurements. Layer thicknesses are uniform and have been varied from 5 to 40 μ by changing the degree of supercooling or the growth time. An electron carrier concentration as low as 8.6 × 10¹⁵/cm³ and electron Hall mobilities up to 2.8 × 105 cm²/V-sec at 77K have been measured on in situ annealed samples. This work was sponsored by the Department of the Air Force and the U.S. Army Research Office.