Dielectric properties of epitaxial Pb1?x Sn x Te layers at microwave frequencies

The dielectric properties of epitaxial Pb_1−x Sn _x Te layers are investigated at 9 GHz in a composition range betweenx=0 and 0.225. The samples are characterized by fairly low carrier concentrations between 1.4×10¹⁶ and 32×10¹⁶ cm⁻³. Data of the static dielectric constant (ε ^s ) are obtained at temperatures of 77 and 300 K. The results of ε ^s are 25% to 100% higher compared to previous measurements in bulk material from other authors. The observed higher values of ε ^s in the investigated samples may be due to the reduced number of point defects in epitaxially grown Pb_1−x Sn _x Te layers. The model of Kawamura which predicts a dependence of ε ^s on the effective band gap cannot be verified.