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Title: Effects of excess Te on flux inclusion formation in the growth of cadmium zinc telluride when forced melt convection is applied

Journal Article · · Journal of Crystal Growth
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1]
  1. Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)
  2. 5N Plus Inc., Montréal, QC (Canada); École Polytechnique de Montréal, QC (Canada)
  3. 5N Plus Inc., Montréal, QC (Canada)

The presence of second phase defects, particularly flux inclusions of tellurium rich composition, are of great concern for charge collection efficiency in cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) and cadmium telluride (CT) material intended for applications such as radiation detection. These inclusions can distort applied electric field lines within the detector as well as act as trapping centers for charge carriers. Reduction and/or elimination of these inclusions is required to achieve appropriate charge collection efficiencies, especially in detectors of thicknesses greater than 5 mm. These so-called flux inclusions are understood to form as a consequence of constitutional undercooling at the crystal growth interface. In this study, a forced melt convection technique was applied in Vertical Bridgman (VB) melt growth of CZT without reducing imposed growth rates of ~2 mm/hr. Several rotation profiles were tested while adjusting the melt composition from 51.62 to 61.75 atomic percent (at%) Te where the Te concentration was initially increased to improve overall material purity. With forced melt convection, the best inclusion distributions were achieved with highly Te rich melt compositions, far beyond the stoichiometric composition range for the CZT system. Average inclusion diameters were reduced to 2 µm while inclusions greater than 5 µm were essentially eliminated. Composition analyses of these ingots revealed near equilibrium concentrations of Te, even with ingots grown from Te concentrations as high as 61.75 at% Te. In this paper, a recipe for the reduction of inclusions in CZT melt growth is put forward and the implications of this method on our understanding of inclusion formation are discussed.

Research Organization:
Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002565
OSTI ID:
1801120
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1599666
Journal Information:
Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 535; ISSN 0022-0248
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 7 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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