Characterization of CdZnTe crystals grown using a seeded modified vertical bridgman method

In this paper, several 60 mm diameter CdZnTe crystal ingots, containing large-size single crystals, were grown using 〈111〉 or 〈211〉 orientation seeds by the modified vertical Bridgman method. The Zn concentration distribution along the axial direction of the ingots was measured by near-infrared transmission spectroscopy at room temperature. The partition coefficient of Zn during the growth was calculated to be about 1.2. Zinc distribution uniformity measurements were carried out using photoluminescence mapping measurement at 80 K, which showed that the band gap variation in the CdZnTe wafers is less than 0.004 eV. IR microscopy showed that the diameters of the Te inclusions present in the material are in the range 6-9 μm, and the density of the inclusions is 1∼ 3× 10⁵cm^-3. IR transmission measurements in the wave number region from 500 to 4000 cm ^-1 demonstrate that the IR transmittance of CdZnTe wafers is higher than 60%. Current-voltage measurements were performed on test structures fabricated using thermally evaporated Au contacts deposited on as-grown crystals, which revealed bulk resistivity values of 2∼ 5× 10 ¹⁰Ω ̇ cm. Typical leakage currents for the planar devices were ∼ 4 nA at a field strength of 1500 Vcm^-1. The electron and hole mobility-lifetime products were evaluated using alpha particle irradiation. The obtained typical (μτ)e and (μτ)h values for the as-grown CdZnTe were 2.3× 10^-3cm²V^-1 and 1.5× 10^-4cm²V^-1, respectively.