Effect of the dislocation density on minority-carrier lifetime in molecular beam epitaxial HgCdTe

Abstract

The photoconductive minority-carrier lifetime has been measured as a function of temperature and etch-pit density in n-type HgCdTe grown by molecular beam epitaxy with a composition range x=0.22–0.23 to determine the limiting recombination mechanisms, particularly those related to dislocation density. In the extrinsic region at temperatures T<77 K, the minority-carrier lifetime is limited by Shockley–Read recombination. Strong correlation between minority-carrier lifetime and dislocation density is observed.