Doping of molecular beam epitaxy HgCdTe using an arsenic cracker source (As2)

This study investigated the incorporation of arsenic dimers (As₂), delivered from a “cracker” effusion cell. The HgCdTe epilayers were deposited under standard growth conditions. During deposition, arsenic was incorporated using both a standard arsenic effusion cell and a cracker cell. It was found that arsenic concentration rose dramatically as a function of cracker-zone temperature, particularly at temperatures above 600°C. This behavior was consistent with the temperature dependence of the effusion cell’s cracking efficiency, as determined by residual gas analysis. The temporal stability of the arsenic source was excellent. Arsenic concentrations of 2.8×10²⁰ cm⁻³ were achieved at a cracker temperature of 800°C. The arsenic beam-equivalent pressure, estimated from an uncorrected, nude ion-gauge reading, was ∼8×10⁻⁷ mbar.