Characterization of recombination centres in n-type Hg1-xCdxTe

The defect levels in Hg1-xCdxTe P+N junction photodiodes (x = 0.4) were first studied using deep-level transient spectroscopy. Two electron traps, E(1)(0.06) and E(2)(0.15), and two hole traps, H-1(0.075) and H-2(0.29), were obtained, Characteristic parameters-the minority lifetime of the devices and the dynamic resistance-area product at zero bias-are estimated according to these levels. Results show that these two minority levels may be important in controlling lifetime. We have studied the recombination mechanism of the hole trap H-2(0.29) further. It has a large activation energy and satisfies the formula sigma(T) = sigma(x) exp(-E(F)/E(T)). This reflects the fact that its recombination mechanism is multiphonon nonradiative recombination, which is rarely reported in narrow-bandgap materials.