Deep level defects in CdTe materials studied by thermoelectric effect spectroscopy and photo-induced current transient spectroscopy

Abstract

The deep levels in semi-insulating CdTe crystals grown by vertical gradient freezing technique were studied using thermoelectric effect spectroscopy (TEES) and photo-induced current transient spectroscopy (PICTS). The measurement of TEES spectra in the temperature range 90–400 K was performed at different heating rates. The positions of the levels and their capture cross-sections were obtained by using the heating rate method. It was found that near midgap levels in samples doped with shallow donors (Cl, In) have a low value of capture cross section (≈10−15 − 10−17 cm2) and are hole traps. Samples doped with a deep donor (Ge, Sn) have a much higher capture cross section of the midgap level (≈10−13 cm2), which acts as an electron trap. Comparison of the TEES results with the PICTS method has shown that while the evaluated values of ionization energies are comparable using both methods, the PICTS technique gives systematically approximately two orders of magnitude higher capture cross sections than TEES.