p-type doping efficiency in CdTe: Influence of second phase formation

McCoy, Jedidiah J.; Swain, Santosh K.; Sieber, John R.; Diercks, David R.; Gorman, Brian P.; Lynn, Kelvin G.

doi:10.1063/1.5002144

Title: p-type doping efficiency in CdTe: Influence of second phase formation

Journal Article · 29 January 2018 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5002144 · OSTI ID:1511162

McCoy, Jedidiah J. ^[1]; Swain, Santosh K. ^[1]; Sieber, John R. ^[2];

^[3]; Gorman, Brian P. ^[3];

^[1]

Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) high purity, bulk, crystal ingots doped with phosphorus were grown by the vertical Bridgman melt growth technique to understand and improve dopant solubility and activation. We report that large net carrier densities have been reproducibly obtained from as-grown ingots, indicating successful incorporation of dopants into the lattice. However, net carrier density values are orders of magnitude lower than the solubility of P in CdTe as reported in literature, 10¹⁸/cm³ to 10¹⁹/cm³ [J. H. Greenberg, J. Cryst. Growth 161, 1–11 (1996) and R. B. Hall and H. H. Woodbury, J. Appl. Phys. 39(12), 5361–5365 (1968)], despite comparable starting charge dopant densities. Growth conditions, such as melt stoichiometry and post growth cooling, are shown to have significant impacts on dopant solubility. This study demonstrates that a significant portion of the dopant becomes incorporated into second phase defects as compounds of cadmium and phosphorous, such as cadmium phosphide, which inhibits dopant incorporation into the lattice and limits maximum attainable net carrier density in bulk crystals. In this paper, we present an extensive study on the characteristics of these second phase defects in relation to their composition and formation kinetics while providing a pathway to minimize their formation and enhance solubility.

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Research Organization:: Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0007537; AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1511162

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1418400; OSTI ID: 1836055

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 16; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 15 works

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