Abstract

The photoluminescence spectra of liquid phase epitaxially (LPE) grown Hg_0.3Cd_0.7Te and its CdTe substrate have been measured. The CdTe spectra at 4.2 K consist of two band edge sets of lines, B and C, while the Hg_0.3Cd_0.7Te spectra consist of one set of lines, A. From the temperature dependence of both the integrated intensity and peak position, we determined that the A line is unrelated to the C line but is very possibly related to the B line. The B line in CdTe is due to recombination of electrons and holes bound to a neutral donor or acceptor. This suggests that the same neutral donor or acceptor may be present in both materials, whereas the impurity or defect responsible for the C line in CdTe is undetectable in LPF grown Hg_0.3Cd_0.7Te. In contrast the photoluminescence spectra of both Hg_0.3Cd_0.7Te and CdTe at 77 K consist of a single narrow, high energy line with a free exciton lineshape and a broad, low energy line due to a deep level. From binding energy considerations, the origin of the observed deep level in Hg_0.3Cd_0.7Te is unrelated to that in CdTe.

© 1984 Optical Society of America