Microstructural Characterization of CdTe Surface Passivation Layers

The microstructure of CdTe (CT) surface passivation layers deposited on HgCdTe (MCT) heterostructures has been evaluated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The MCT heterostructures were grown by liquid-phase epitaxy and consisted of thick (approximately 10 μm to 20 μm) n-type MCT layers and thin (approximately 1 μm to 3 μm) p-type MCT layers. The final CT (approximately 0.3 μm to 0.6 μm) capping layers were grown either by hot-wall epitaxy (HWE) or molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). One of the wafers with the CT layer grown by MBE was also annealed in Hg atmosphere at 250°C for 96 h. The as-deposited CT passivation layers were polycrystalline and columnar. The CT grains were larger and more irregular when deposited by HWE, whereas those deposited by MBE were generally well textured with mostly vertical grain boundaries. Observations and measurements with several TEM abrupt structurally after annealing techniques showed that the CT/MCT interface became considerably more abrupt structurally after annealing, and the crystallinity of the CT layer was also improved.