Diffusion of cadmium in lead telluride

In order to determine the diffusion coefficient of cadmium in lead telluride DCd, CdTe/PbTe heterostructures were prepared by hot wall epitaxy. To obtain the cadmium concentration profile, quantitative Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and sputtered-neutral mass spectroscopy (SNMS) were used. The data on the cadmium depth profile were used for evaluation of the dependence of DCd on temperature at low temperatures (350–450°C) in heterostructures. The data obtained for DCd vs. temperature are close to those calculated using the equation known for higher temperatures.