Effects of impurities and secondary phases on the performance of CdZnTe radiation detectors

CdZnTe (10% Zn) crystals for nuclear radiation detectors were grown using modified vertical Bridgman growth technique. Analyses of the effects of impurities and secondary phases on the detector properties were performed. We have attempted to establish a correlation between total impurities and ¿¿_e. Also presented are the effects of volume % of secondary phases on the CdZnTe detector performance. ¿¿_e values of 1E-2 cm²/V have been obtained from ingots with lower volume % of Te secondary phases. However, no correlation was observed between the volume % of secondary phases and ¿¿_e indicating that both impurities and secondary phases effect the ¿¿_e value. Results documenting the simultaneous avoidance of impurities and secondary phases are presented. We have shown that post processing CdZnTe is an effective means of reducing volume % of secondary phases.