Ten-inch molecular beam epitaxy production system for HgCdTe growth

Growth of Hg_1−xCd_xTe by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been under development since the early 1980s at Rockwell Scientific Company (RSC), formerly the Rockwell Science Center; and we have shown that high-performance and highly reproducible MBE HgCdTe double heterostructure planar p-on-n devices can be produced with high throughput for various single- and multiplecolor infrared applications. In this paper, we present data on Hg_1−xCd_xTe epitaxial layers grown in a ten-inch production MBE system. For growth of HgCdTe, standard effusion cells containing CdTe and Te were used, in addition to a Hg source. The system is equipped with reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and spectral ellipsometry in addition to other fully automated electrical and optical monitoring systems. The HgCdTe heterostructures grown in our large ten-inch Riber 49 MBE system have outstanding structural characteristics with etch-pit densities (EPDs) in the low 10⁴ cm⁻² range, Hall carrier concentration in low 10¹⁴ cm⁻³, and void density <1000 cm². The epilayers were grown on near lattice-matched (211)B Cd_0.96Zn_0.04Te substrates. High-performance mid wavelength infrared (MWIR) devices were fabricated with R₀A values of 7.2×10⁶ Ω-cm² at 110 K, and the quantum efficiency without an antireflection coating was 71.5% for cutoff wavelength of 5.21 μm at 37 K. For short wavelength infrared (SWIR) devices, an R₀A value of 9.4×10⁵ Ω-cm² at 200 K was obtained and quantum efficiency without an antireflection coating was 64% for cutoff wavelength of 2.61 μm at 37 K. These R₀A values are comparable to our trend line values in this temperature range.     

Impact of critical processes on HgCdTe diode performance and yield

HgCdTe detector performance and yield are strongly dependant on CdZnTe substrate and HgCdTe epilayer properties, and on key device processes, especially for 8–12 μm application. Due to the correlation and optimization between these figures and diode performance, AIM has developed a mature HgCdTe technology for superior detector performance and high production rate. To meet high yield and performance for long wavelength (LW) HgCdTe diodes, dislocation densities of < 1 × 10^t cm⁻² both in substrate and epilayer have to be ensured. By a unique AIM substrate growth process, dislocation densities of 2 × 10⁴-9 × 10⁴ cm⁻² are achieved for all substrates and epilayers (100% yield). The etch pit density (EPD) on 〈111〉 epilayers is revealed by an AIM proprietary etching procedure. One critical effect is the dislocations in the diode area, which can originate from the substrate and epilayer growth and the subsequent device processes, respectively. Our studies have shown that device processes can cause additional dislocations in the diode area. Diode yield was clearly improved by a combination of wet and dry etching for diode contact etching.     

Heteroepitaxy of HgCdTe(112) infrared detector structures on Si(112) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy

High-quality, single-crystal epitaxial films of CdTe(112)B and HgCdTe(112)B have been grown directly on Si(112) substrates without the need for GaAs interfacial layers. The CdTe and HgCdTe films have been characterized with optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction, wet chemical defect etching, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. HgCdTe/Si infrared detectors have also been fabricated and tested. The CdTe(112)B films are highly specular, twin-free, and have x-ray rocking curves as narrow as 72 arc-sec and near-surface etch pit density (EPD) of 2 × 10⁶ cm⁻² for 8 μm thick films. HgCdTe(112)B films deposited on Si substrates have x-ray rocking curve FWHM as low as 76 arc-sec and EPD of 3-22 × 10⁶ cm⁻². These MBE-grown epitaxial structures have been used to fabricate the first high-performance HgCdTe IR detectors grown directly on Si without use of an intermediate GaAs buffer layer. HgCdTe/Si infrared detectors have been fabricated with 40% quantum efficiency and R₀A = 1.64 × 10⁴ Ωm₂ (0 FOV) for devices with 7.8 μm cutoff wavelength at 78Kto demonstrate the capability of MBE for growth of large-area HgCdTe arrays on Si.     

Growth of fully doped Hg1−xCdxTe heterostructures using a novel iodine doping source to achieve improved device performance at elevated temperatures

Band gap engineered Hg_1−xCd_xTe (MCT) heterostructures should lead to detectors with improved electro-optic and radiometric performance at elevated operating temperatures. Growth of such structures was accomplished using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Acceptor doping with arsenic (As), using phenylarsine (PhAsH₂), demonstrated 100% activation and reproducible control over a wide range of concentrations (1 × 10¹⁵ to 3.5 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³). Although vapor from elemental iodine showed the suitability of iodine as a donor in MC.T, problems arose while controlling low donor concentrations. Initial studies using ethyliodide (EtI) demonstrated that this source could be used successfully to dope MCT, yielding the properties required for stable heterostructure devices, i.e. ≈100% activation, no memory problems and low diffusion coefficient. Cryogenic alkyl cooling or very high dilution factors were required to achieve the concentrations needed for donor doping below ≈10¹⁶cm⁻³ due to the high vapor pressure of the alkyl. A study of an alternative organic iodide source, 2-methylpropyliodide (2 MePrI), which has a much lower vapor pressure, improved control of low donor concentrations. 2 MePrI demonstrated the same donor source suitability as EtI and was used to control iodine concentrations from ≈ 1 × 10¹⁵ to 5 × 10¹⁷cm⁻³. The iodine from both sources only incorporated during the CdTe cycles of the interdiffused multilayer process (IMP) in a similar manner to both elemental iodine and As from PhAsH₂. High resolution secondary ion mass spectroscopy analysis showed that IMP scale modulations can still be identified after growth. The magnitude of these oscillations is consistent with a diffusion coefficient of≈7 × 10⁻¹⁶cm²s⁻¹ for iodine in MC.T at 365°C. Extrinsically doped device heterostructures, grown using 2 MePrI, have been intended to operate at elevated temperatures either for long wavelength (8–12 smm) equilibrium operation at 145K or nonequilibrium operation at 190 and 295K in both the 3–5 μ and 8–12 μ wavelength ranges. Characterization of such device structures will be discussed. Linear arrays of mesa devices have been fabricated in these layers. Medium wave nonequilibrium device structures have demonstrated high quantum efficiencies and R₀A = 37 Ωcm² for λ_co = 4.9 μ at 190K.     

Molecular-beam epitaxial growth of HgCdTe infrared focal-plane arrays on silicon substrates for midwave infrared applications

Molecular beam epitaxy has been employed to deposit HgCdTe infrared detector structures on Si(112) substrates with performance at 125K that is equivalent to detectors grown on conventional CdZnTe substrates. The detector structures are grown on Si via CdTe(112)B buffer layers, whose structural properties include x-ray rocking curve full width at half maximum of 63 arc-sec and near-surface etch pit density of 3–5 × 10⁵ cm⁻² for 9 μm thick CdTe films. HgCdTe p⁺-on-n device structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on both bulk CdZnTe and Si with 125K cutoff wavelengths ranging from 3.5 to 5 μm. External quantum efficiencies of 70%, limited only by reflection loss at the uncoated Si-vacuum interface, were achieved for detectors on Si. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of MBE-grown detectors on CdZnTe and Si were found to be equivalent, with reverse breakdown voltages well in excess of 700 mV. The temperature dependences of the I-V characteristics of MBE-grown diodes on CdZnTe and Si were found to be essentially identical and in agreement with a diffusion-limited current model for temperatures down to 110K. The performance of MBE-grown diodes on Si is also equivalent to that of typical liquid phase epitaxy-grown devices on CdZnTe with R₀A products in the 10⁶–10⁷ Θ-cm² range for 3.6 μm cutoff at 125K and R₀A products in the 10⁴–10⁵ Θ-cm² range for 4.7 μm cutoff at 125K.     

Planar n-on-p ion milled mid-wavelength and long-wavelength infrared diodes on molecular beam epitaxy vacancy-doped CdHgTe on CdZnTe

Planar mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) and long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) photodiodes were fabricated by ion milling molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) Cd_xHg_1−xTe (CMT) layers with and without compositional grading in the layer. Linear arrays with 32 and 64 diodes, as well as test diodes of varying size, were fabricated. Good quantum efficiencies were measured, and MWIR diodes, with cutoff wavelength λ_CO=4.5 μm, had zero-bias resistance-area values (R₀A) in excess of 1×10⁷ Ωcm², whereas LWIR diodes with λ_CO=8.9−9.3 μm had R₀A=3×10² Ωcm² at 77 K. Comparison between a limited number of layers indicates that in layers with a gradient the RA values are a factor of ∼10 larger, and possibly more uniform, than in layers without a gradient.     

Minority carrier lifetime and noise in abrupt molecular-beam epitaxy-grown HgCdTe heterostructures

The steady-state lifetime of photogenerated minority carriers has been investigated in heterostructure HgCdTe devices fabricated on molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) grown material. A wider bandgap capping layer (Hg_(1−x)Cd_(x)Te, x = 0.44) was grown on a narrower bandgap absorbing layer (Hg_(1−x)Cd_(x)Te, x = 0.32, λ_co,80K = 4.57 μm) material in an uninterrupted MBE growth to create an abrupt heterointerface. Steady-state lifetime as a function of temperature over the range 80–300 K was extracted from photoconductive responsivity at an optical wavelength corresponding to the peak responsivity at that temperature. At 80 K, the photoconductors exhibit a specific detectivity of 4.5 × 10¹¹ cm Hz^−1/2W⁻¹ (chopping frequency of 1 kHz). For each measurement temperature, the steady-state excess carrier lifetime determined experimentally was compared to the theoretical bulk lifetime for material with x = 0.32 and effective n-type doping density of 3.7 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻³. Theoretical calculations of the Auger-1 lifetime based on expressions developed by Pratt et al. were not able to account for the reduction in lifetime observed at temperatures above 180 K. Two approaches have been attempted to resolve this discrepancy: A semiempirical expression for Auger lifetime attributed to Meyer et al. was used to fit to the data, with the Auger coefficient γ as a fitting parameter. However, the resulting Auger coefficient found in this work is more than an order of magnitude higher than that reported previously. Alternatively, the reduction in effective lifetime above 180 K may be understood as a “loss” of carriers from the narrow bandgap absorbing layer that are promoted across the potential barrier in the conduction band into a low lifetime, wider bandgap capping layer. The reduction in lifetime as a function of inverse temperature for temperatures above 180 K may be fitted by a “cap lifetime” that has an activation energy equal to the change in bandgap across the heterostucture and scaled by a fitting constant.     

Molecular beam epitaxial growth and characterization of lead telluride for laser diodes

The characteristics of PbTe films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been investigated. These films were grown on (100) oriented Tl-doped PbTe substrates under UHV conditions (~5×l0⁻⁹ Torr during deposition). Substrate surface contamination levels were studied with Auger electron spectroscopy. Oxygen, the dominant impurity observed, is rapidly thermally desorbed from PbTe, but is stable on Pb_1−xSn_xTe up to at least 410°C. Carrier concentration and mobility were measured with the Van der Pauw technique. The electron mobility increased strongly with increasing film thickness, varying from 4,000 to 14,000 cm²/volt-sec as the thickness increased from 2.0 to 7.3 μn. The film surface also became smoother with increasing film thickness. These results suggest the need for a buffer layer in a laser structure. Lasers grown with 6 μm thick buffer layers have exhibited extremely low threshold current densities (40 A/cm² at 13 K) and very high junction resistancearea products at zero-bias (0.7 Ω−cm² at 77 K), indicative of very high junction quality.     

Advances in composition control for 16 µm LPE P-on-n HgCdTe heterojunction photodiodes for remote sensing applications at 60K

With good composition control in both p-type cap and n-type base LPE layers, it is possible to make barrier-free two-layer P-on-n HgCdTe heterojunction photodiodes with very long cutoff wavelengths. Diode arrays with good R_oA operability, good quantum efficiency, and low 1/f noise at 60K have been demonstrated at cutoff wavelengths to 16.3μm. The diode performance continues to improve at lower temperatures, following a diffusion-current trend to at least 35K. Measured R_oA values of 2×10⁵ ohm-cm² for an 18 μm cutoff at 35K are the highest reported at this very long wavelength. A simple defect model applied to the area dependence of R_oA at 40K implied a defect areal density of 3×10⁴ cm⁻² and a defect impedance of 3×10⁶ ohm.     

Infrared spectroscopy of chromium-doped cadmium selenide

The maximum optical-absorption cross section of Cr²⁺ ions was evaluated from near-infrared (NIR) absorption spectroscopy and direct measurements of the chromium concentration in Cr²⁺:CdSe crystals. The emission lifetime of the excited state, ⁵E, of Cr²⁺ was measured as a function of Cr²⁺ concentration in the 2×10¹⁷ −2×10¹⁸ ions/cm³ range and as a function of temperature from 77–300 K. Lifetime values were as high as ∼6 μs in the 77–250 K range and decreased to ∼4 μs at 300 K because of nonradiative decays. Assuming that most of the Cr dopant is in the Cr²⁺ state, an optical-absorption cross section σ_a of (1.94±0.56) × 10⁻¹⁸ cm² was calculated. Implications for laser performance are discussed.     

Mid-wavelength infrared p-on-n Hg1−xCdxTe heterostructure detectors: 30–120 kelvin state-of-the-Art performance

We report on Hg_1−xCd_xTe mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) detectors grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) on CdZnTe substrates. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of HgCdTe-MWIR devices and temperature dependence of focal-plane array (FPA) dark current have been investigated and compared with the most recent InSb published data. These MWIR p-on-n Hg_1−xCd_xTe/CdZnTe heterostructure detectors give outstanding performance, and at 68 K, they are limited by diffusion currents. For temperatures lower than 68 K, in the near small-bias region, another current is dominant. This current has lower sensitivity to temperature and most likely is of tunneling origin. High-performance MWIR devices and arrays were fabricated with median R_oA values of 3.96 × 10¹⁰ Ω-cm² at 78 K and 1.27 × 10¹² Ω-cm² at 60 K; the quantum efficiency (QE) without an antireflection (AR) coating was 73% for a cutoff wavelength of 5.3 μm at 78 K. The QE measurement was performed with a narrow pass filter centered at 3.5 μm. Many large-format MWIR 1024 × 1024 FPAs were fabricated and tested as a function of temperature to confirm the ultra-low dark currents observed in individual devices. For these MWIR FPAs, dark current as low as 0.01 e⁻/pixel/sec at 58 K for 18 × 18 μm pixels was measured. The 1024 × 1024 array operability and AR-coated QE at 78 K were 99.48% and 88.3%, respectively. A comparison of these results with the state-of-the-art InSb-detector data suggests MWIR-HgCdTe devices have significantly higher performance in the 30–120 K temperature range. The InSb detectors are dominated by generation-recombination (G-R) currents in the 60–120 K temperature range because of a defect center in the energy gap, whereas MWIR-HgCdTe detectors do not exhibit G-R-type currents in this temperature range and are limited by diffusion currents.     

Characterization of Hg0.7Cd0.3Te n- on p-type structures obtained by reactive ion etching induced p- to n conversion

This paper presents transport measurements on both vacancy doped and gold doped Hg_0.7Cd_0.3Te p-type epilayers grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), with N_A=2×10¹⁶ cm⁻³, in which a thin 2 μm surface layer has been converted to n-type by a short reactive ion etching (RIE) process. Hall and resistivity measurements were performed on the n-on-p structures in van der Pauw configuration for the temperature range from 30 K to 400 K and magnetic field range up to 12 T. The experimental Hall coefficient and resistivity data has been analyzed using the quantitative mobility spectrum analysis procedure to extract the transport properties of each individual carrier contributing to the total conduction process. In both samples three distinct carrier species have been identified. For 77 K, the individual carrier species exhibited the following properties for the vacancy and Au-doped samples, respectively, holes associated with the unconverted p-type epilayer with p ≈ 2 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³, μ ≈ 350 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹, and p ≈ 6 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³, μ ≈ 400 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹; bulk electrons associated with the RIE converted region with n ≈ 3 × 10¹⁵cm⁻³, μ ≈ 4 × 10⁴ cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹, and n ≈ 1.5 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³, μ ≈ 6 × 10⁴ cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹; and surface electrons (2D concentration) n ≈ 9 × 10¹² cm⁻² and n ≈ 1 × 10¹³ cm⁻², with mobility in the range 1.5 × 10³ cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹ to 1.5 × 10⁴ cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹ in both samples. The high mobility of bulk electrons in the RIE converted n-layer indicates that a diffusion process rather than damage induced conversion is responsible for the p-to-n conversion deep in the bulk. On the other hand, these results indicate that the surface electron mobility is affected by RIE induced damage in a very thin layer at the HgCdTe surface.     

Status of the MBE technology at leti LIR for the manufacturing of HgCdTe focal plane arrays

This paper presents recent developments that have been made in Leti Infrared Laboratory in the field of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth and fabrication of medium wavelength and long wavelength infrared (MWIR and LWIR) HgCdTe devices. The techniques that lead to growth temperature and flux control are presented. Run to run composition reproducibility is investigated on runs of more than 15 consecutively grown layers. Etch pit density in the low 10⁵ cm⁻² and void density lower than 10³ cm⁻² are obtained routinely on CdZnTe substrates. The samples exhibit low n-type carrier concentration in the 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ range and mobility in excess of 10⁵ cm²/Vs at 77 K for epilayers with 9.5 μm cut-off wavelength. LWIR diodes, fabricated with an-on-p homojunction process present dynamic resistance area products which reach values of 8 10³ Ωcm² for a biased voltage of −50 mV and a cutoff wavelength of 9.5 μm at 77 K. A 320 × 240 plane array with a 30 μm pitch operating at 77 K in the MWIR range has been developed using HgCdTe and CdTe layers MBE grown on a Germanium substrate. Mean NEDT value of 8.8 mK together with an operability of 99.94% is obtained. We fabricated MWIR two-color detectors by the superposition of layers of HgCdTe with different compositions and a mixed MESA and planar technology. These detectors are spatially coherent and can be independently addressed. Current voltage curves of 60 × 60 μm² photodiodes have breakdown voltage exceeding 800 mV for each diode. The cutoff wavelength at 77 K is 3.1 μm for the MWIR-1 and 5 μm for the MWIR-2.     

MWIR DLPH HgCdTe photodiode performance dependence on substrate material

Mid wavelength infrared p-on-n double layer planar heterostructure (DLPH) photodiodes have been fabricated in HgCdTe double layers grown in situ by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), on CdZnTe and for the first time on CdTe/sapphire (PACE-1). Characterization of these devices shed light on the nature of the material limits on device performance for devices performing near theoretical limits. LPE double layers on CdZnTe and on PACE-1 substrates were grown in a horizontal slider furnace. All the photodiodes are p-on-n heterostructures with indium as the n-type dopant and arsenic the p-type dopant. Incorporation of arsenic is via implantation followed by an annealing step that was the same for all the devices fabricated. The devices are passivated with MBE CdTe. Photodiodes have been characterized as a function of temperature. R₀A_imp values obtained between 300 and 78K are comparable for the two substrates and are approximately a factor of five below theoretical values calculated from measured material parameters. The data, for the PACE-1 substrate, indicates diffusion limited performance down to 110K. Area dependence gives further indications as to the origin of diffusion currents. Comparable R₀A_imp for various diode sizes indicates a p-side origin. R₀A and optical characteristics for the photodiodes grown on lattice-matched CdZnTe substrates and lattice mismatched PACE-1 are comparable. Howover, differences were observed in the noise characteristics of the photodiodes. Noise was measured on 50 × 50 μm devices held under a 100 mV reverse bias. At 110K, noise spectrum for devices from the two substrates is in the low 10⁻¹⁵ A/Hz^1/2 range. This value reflects the Johnson noise of the room temperature 10¹⁰ Ω feedback resistor in the current amplifier that limits the minimum measurable noise. Noise at 1 Hz, −100 mV and 120K for the 4.95 μm PACE-1 devices is in the 1–2 × 10⁻¹⁴ A/Hz^1/2, a factor of 5–10 lower than previously grown typical PACE-1 n⁺-on-p layers. Noise at 120K for the 4.60 μm PACE-1 and LPE on CdZnTe was again below the measurement technique limit. Greatest distinction in the noise characteristics for the different substrates was observed at 163K. No excess low frequency noise was observed for devices fabricated on layers grown by LPE on lattice-matched CdZnTe substrates. Photodiode noise measured at 1Hz, −100 mV and 163K in the 4.60 μm PACE-1 layer is in the 1–2×10⁻¹³ A/Hz^1/2, again a factor of 5–10 lower than previously grown PACE-1 n⁺-on-p layers. More variation in noise (4×10⁻¹³−2×10⁻¹² A/Hz^1/2) was observed for devices in the 4.95 μm PACE-1 layer. DLPH devices fabricated in HgCdTe layers grown by LPE on lattice-matched CdZnTe and on lattice-mismatched PACE-1 have comparable R₀A and quantum efficiency values. The distinguishing feature is that the noise is greater for devices fabricated in the layer grown on lattice mismatched substrates, suggesting dislocations inherent in lattice mismatched material affects excess low frequency noise but not zero bias impedance.     

MBE P-on-n Hg1−xCdxTe heterostructure detectors on silicon substrates

The capability of growing state-of-the-art middle wavelength infrared (MWIR)-HgCdTe layers by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on large area silicon substrates has been demonstrated. We have obtained excellent compositional uniformity with standard deviation of 0.001 with mean composition of 0.321 across 1.5″ radii. R₀A as high as 5 × 10⁷ ω-cm² with a mean value of 7 × 10⁶ Θ-cm² was measured for cut-off wavelength of 4.8 μm at 77K. Devices exhibit diffusion limited performance for temperatures above 95K. Quantum efficiencies up to 63% were observed (with no anti-reflection coating) for cut-off wavelength (4.8–5.4) μm @ 77K. Excellent performance of the fabricated photodiodes on MBE HgCdTe/CdTe/Si reflects on the overall quality of the grown material in the MWIR region.     

Polymers as masks for Ion implantation

Polymers such as polyimides and photoresists, commonly used in semiconductor processing, have been investigated as high resolution masks for ion implantation. Thin films consisting of these materials were subjected to various implant doses of H⁺, Ne⁺ and Ar⁺ ions and the post implantation surface morphologies investigated. Polyimides maintained their integrity under severe H⁺ and Ne⁺ implant doses as high as 2.4 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻² and 1.0 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻², respectively, whereas photoresists began to degrade at implant doses of 9.6 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻² and 1.9 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻², respectively. When polyimide was H⁺ implanted with doses up to 10¹⁶ cm⁻² its dielectric constant and breakdown strength remained unchanged at 3.5 and 150 V/μm, respectively. However, a gradual increase in the dielectric constant was observed for doses above this level. It was also observed that under the influence of H⁺ implants with beam current densities exceeding 10⁻⁷ A-cm⁻² a hardening of the polyimide occurs, resulting in reduction of the etching rate in an O₂ plasma. The stopping powers of various polymers for H⁺ implants have been measured. The results show that the experimental energy loss rate for protons in these materials lies between 75–100 keV/μm.     

Transformation of luminescence centers in CVD ZnS films subjected to a high hydrostatic pressure

The cathodoluminescence and optical-transmission spectra of ZnS were analyzed to study the effect of a high hydrostatic gas pressure (1500 atm at 1000°C) on the equilibrium between intrinsic point defects in zinc sulfide grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with an excess of zinc. The cathodoluminescence spectra were measured at 80–300 K and excitation levels of 10²² and 10²⁶ cm⁻³ s⁻¹; the optical-transmission spectra were measured at 300 K in the wavelength range 4–12 μm. It is found that exposure to a high hydrostatic gas pressure transforms the self-activated emission in the cathodoluminescence spectrum: (i) a new short-wave-length band appears at 415 nm with its intensity increasing by one to three orders of magnitude; and (ii) the long-wavelength band that peaks at 445 nm and is observed in as-grown crystals becomes quenched. Simultaneously, the cathodoluminescence band peaked at 850 nm and related to vacancies V _S is no longer observed after high-pressure treatment. These effects are attributed to a partial escape of excess zinc (Zn_i) from crystals and additional incorporation of oxygen into lattice sites (O_S). A doublet band I ₁, which peaked at ∼331–332 nm at 80 K and at ∼342–343 nm at 300 K and is related to excitons bound to acceptor levels of oxygen centers, was observed. This band is found to be dominant in the cathodoluminescence spectrum at an excitation level of 10²⁶ cm⁻³ s⁻¹. Traces of the ZnO phase are apparent after the high-pressure treatment in both the cathodolumi-nescence spectra (the bands at 730 and 370 nm) and the transmission spectra (narrow bands in the region of 6–7 μm). __________ Translated from Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, Vol. 38, No. 1, 2004, pp. 39–43. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Morozova, Karetnikov, Plotnichenko, Gavrishchuk, Yashina, Ikonnikov.     

Formation and control of defects during molecular beam epitaxial growth of HgCdTe

Void defects were demonstrated to form away from the substrate-epifilm interface during the molecular beam epitaxial growth of mercury cadmium telluride on cadmium zinc telluride substrates. These were smaller in size compared to voids which nucleated at the substrate-epifilm interface, which were also observed. Observations of void nucleation away from the substrate-epifilm interface were related to the respective growth regimes active at the time of the void nucleation. Once nucleated, voids replicated all the way to the surface even if the flux ratios were modified to prevent additional nucleation of voids. For a significant number of films, void defects were observed co-located with hillocks. These voids were usually smaller than 1 μm and appeared almost indistinguishable from unaccompanied simple voids. However, these void-hillock complexes displayed a nest of dislocation etch pits around these defects upon dislocation etching, whereas unaccompanied voids did not. The nests could extend as much as 25 μm from the individual void-hillock complex. The density of dislocations within the nest exceeded 5×10⁶ cm⁻², whereas the dislocation density outside of the nest could decrease to <2×10⁵ cm⁻². The void-hillock complexes formed due to fluctuations in growth parameters. Elimination of these fluctuations drastically decreased the concentrations of these defects.     

Characterization of Mg-doped InP grown by MOCVD using a bis(methylcyclopentadienyl)magnesium dopant source

The use of bis(methylcyclopentadienyl)magnesium (MCp₂Mg) as ap-dopant source for MOCVD-grown InP has been investigated. The Mg incorporation was nonlinear. The relationship between the H₂ flow through the MCp₂Mg bubbler and the Mg concentra-tion in the epilayers suggested that when [Mg] <20 ppb in the reactor it was mostly depleted from the gas mixture, probably by means of reaction with O₂ or H₂O, but at higher concentrations a large fraction of the Mg diffusing to the epilayers was incor-porated. For concentrations >10¹⁹ cm^s-3 the layer morphology deteriorated and stacking faults were observed by TEM, at a density greater than 10⁹ cm^s−2. Significant diffusion of Mg into the substrates during the growth was observed, with diffusion depths up to 0.1 μm at a concentration of 10¹⁹ cm^s−3 in S-doped, and up to 32 μm at 10¹⁷ cm^s-3 in Fe-doped substrates. These concentrations correspond to the S and Fe doping level in those substrates, and the results are explained in terms of the formation of a complex between the S or Fe dopants and the diffusing Mg, which immobilizes the latter species. At [Mg] >10¹⁸ cm^s−3, the net hole concentration, measured by means of electrochemical C-V pro-filing, decreases with increasing [Mg], indicating significant self compensation. Com-pensation at high [Mg] was also suggested by the effect of excitation power density on the peak shift of the donor to acceptor transition observed during photoluminescence measurements at 7 K.     

1/f noise in large-area Hg<Subscript>1−x</Subscript>Cd<Subscript>x</Subscript>Te photodiodes

The 1/f noise in photovoltaic (PV) molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown Hg_1−xCd_xTe double-layer planar heterostructure (DLPH) large-area detectors is a critical noise component with the potential to limit sensitivity of the cross-track infrared sounder (CrIS) instrument. Therefore, an understanding of the origins and mechanisms of noise currents in these PV detectors is of great importance. Excess low-frequency noise has been measured on a number of 1000-μm-diameter active-area detectors of varying “quality” (i.e., having a wide range of I-V characteristics at 78 K). The 1/f noise was measured as a function of cut-off wavelength under illuminated conditions. For short-wave infrared (SWIR) detectors at 98 K, minimal 1/f noise was measured when the total current was dominated by diffusion with white noise spectral density in the mid-10⁻¹⁵A/Hz^1/2 range. For SWIR detectors dominated by other than diffusion current, the ratio, α, of the noise current in unit bandwidth i_n(f = 1 Hz, V_d = −60 mV, and Δf = 1 Hz) to dark current I_d(V_d = −60 mV) was α_SW-d = i_n/I_d ∼ 1 × 10⁻³. The SWIR detectors measured at 0 mV under illuminated conditions had median α_SW-P = i_n/I_ph ∼ 7 × 10⁻⁶. For mid-wave infrared (MWIR) detectors, α_MW-d = i_n/I_d ∼ 2 × 10⁻⁴, due to tunneling current contributions to the 1/f noise. Measurements on forty-nine 1000-μm-diameter MWIR detectors under illuminated conditions at 98 K and −60 mV bias resulted in α_MW-P = i_n/I_ph = 4.16 ± 1.69 × 10⁻⁶. A significant point to note is that the photo-induced noise spectra are nearly identical at 0 mV and 100 mV reverse bias, with a noise-current-to-photocurrent ratio, α_MW-P, in the mid 10⁻⁶ range. For long-wave infrared (LWIR) detectors measured at 78 K, the ratio, α_LW-d = i_n/I_d ∼ 6 × 10⁻⁶, for the best performers. The majority of the LWIR detectors exhibited α_LW-d on the order of 2 × 10⁻⁵. The photo-induced 1/f noise had α_LW-P = i_n/I_ph ∼ 5 × 10⁻⁶. The value of the noise-current-to-dark-current ratio, α appears to increase with increasing bandgap. It is not clear if this is due to different current mechanisms impacting 1/f noise performance. Measurements on detectors of different bandgaps are needed at temperatures where diffusion current is the dominant current. Excess low-frequency noise measurements made as a function of detector reverse bias indicate 1/f noise may result primarily from the dominant current mechanism at each particular bias. The 1/f noise was not a direct function of the applied bias.