Real structures of doped lead telluride crystals

A relationship between the real crystal structure and the doping level was proposed based on experimental data on the real structures of PbTe crystals with different Cr, Co, Ni, and In contents. Two composition regions were revealed for these crystals. One region is characterized by the presence of impurity atmospheres at dislocations as the main type of impurity inhomogeneity, whereas impurity-rich microprecipitates prevail in the second region. Possible reasons for the formation of solid solutions supersaturated with impurity ions were analyzed. The influence of thermal treatment on the real structure and galvanomagnetic properties of the crystals was investigated.