Thermomigration of Te precipitates and improvement of (Cd,Zn)Te substrate characteristics for the fabrication of LWIR (Hg,Cd)Te photodiodes

(Cd,Zn)Te wafers containing Te precipitates have been annealed under well defined thermodynamic conditions at temperatures below and above the melting of Te. Results of the examination of the wafers with infrared microscopy before and after the anneals indicate a substantial reduction of the Te precipitates in wafers annealed at temperatures in excess of the melting point of Te compared with those annealed at temperatures below the melting point of Te. These results confirm the thermomigration of liquid Te precipitates to be the principally operative mechanism during annealing in the elimination of these precipitates in (Cd,Zn)Te wafers. The occurrence of Te precipitates in (Hg,Cd)Te epitaxial layers grown on (Cd,Zn)Te substrates containing Te precipitates is also explained on the basis of thermomigration of these precipitates during LPE growth from the substrates to the epilayers. Absence of occurrence of Te precipitates in (Hg,Cd)Te epilayers grown on annealed (Cd,Zn)Te substrates with negligible Te precipitates is also confirmed. Usefulness of annealing (Cd,Zn)Te substrates—to eliminate Te precipitates—prior to epilayer growth is confirmed via demonstration of improved long wavelength infrared (Hg,Cd)Te device array performance uniformity in epitaxial layers grown on (Cd,Zn)Te substrates with negligible Te precipitates after annealing.