Growth characteristics of CdZnTe layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy using dimethylzinc, dimethylcadmium, diethyltelluride, and dimethyltelluride as precursors

Growth characteristics of (100)-oriented CdZnTe layers grown by atmospheric-pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy have been studied using dimethylzinc (DMZn), dimethylcadmium (DMCd), diethyltelluride (DETe), and dimethyltelluride (DMTe) as precursors. Variations of Zn composition and layer growth rate were examined by changing the DMZn supply ratio, defined as DMZn/(DMCd+DMZn), where the precursors are expressed in appropriate units of flow rate, from 0 (no DMZn) to 1.0 (no DMCd), while keeping the total group II supply rate constant. The growth rate of CdZnTe layers was found to decrease monotonically with increase of the DMZn supply ratio. On the other hand, the Zn composition x of grown layers increased gradually up to x=0.04 with increase of the DMZn supply ratio from 0 to 0.8, beyond which the Zn composition increased abruptly to ZnTe. The abrupt transition of Zn composition was suppressed by increasing the VI/II ratio. The growth mechanism of CdZnTe layers was studied based on the observed growth characteristics of CdTe and ZnTe. A higher desorption rate from the growth surface for Zn species than for Cd species, and a higher rate of CdTe formation than ZnTe formation are believed to cause the observed growth characteristics. CdZnTe layers with high crystal quality were grown in a wide range of Zn compositions. The full-width at half-maximum values for x-ray double-crystal rocking-curve measurements were lower than 320 arc-sec for x<0.3 and x>0.75.