Deep electronic levels in high-pressure Bridgman Cd1−xZnxTe

The behavior of deep electronic levels was studied as a function of Zn concentration in CdZnTe crystals grown by the high-pressure Bridgman technique using thermoelectric effect spectroscopy. A significant increase of the thermal ionization energies of hole traps was observed with the increasing Zn content of the ternary compound. The effect explains the stronger hole trapping and the resulting much shorter hole lifetime usually observed in CdZnTe as compared to CdTe. The behavior also suggests increased carrier recombination and explains the strong deterioration of electron collection in detectors fabricated from CdZnTe of high Zn concentration.