Growth and optical properties of ion-doped ZnMgTe crystals by the travelling Te solution method

Ion-doped Zn_1-xMg_xTe (x = 0∼0.53) crystals possessing the zinc blende structure feature a tunable bandgap, rendering them promising candidates for luminescent applications in blue-green LEDs and mid-infrared lasers. In this work, Zn_1-xMg_xTe (x = 0.05∼0.18) crystals doped with P, Cr, and Fe were grown by the travelling Te solution method. EPMA analysis reveals excellent compositional uniformity of the P dopant in P:ZnMgTe crystals grown by this method. XRD results confirmed that all the obtained single crystals possess a zinc blende structure. XPS reveals that P adopts the P3− valence state in the P:ZnMgTe crystals. Optical characterization confirms the efficient incorporation of ions into the ZnMgTe lattice, and the resulting single crystals exhibit high optical quality. Temperature-dependent PL spectra of the P:ZnMgTe crystal reveal a deep-level emission band centered at 750 nm (1.65 eV). Combined with XPS analysis, this band is preliminarily assigned to a defect complex composed of oxygen impurities and cation vacancies, most likely in the configuration of V_Zn/Mg-O_Te.