Correlated analysis of 2 MeV proton-induced radiation damage in CdZnTe crystals using photoluminescence and thermally stimulated current techniques

Highlights: • 2 MeV proton-induced radiation damage in CdZnTe crystals is investigated by PL and TSC techniques. • The influence of radiation damage on the luminescent and electrical properties of CdZnTe crystals is studied. • Intensity of PL spectrum is found to decrease significantly in irradiated regions, suggesting the increase of non-radiative recombination centers. • A correlated analysis of PL and TSC spectra suggests that the density of dislocations and A-centers increase after proton irradiation. - Abstract: Radiation damage induced by 2 MeV protons in CdZnTe crystals has been studied by means of photoluminescence (PL) and thermally stimulated current (TSC) techniques. A notable quenching of PL intensity is observed in the regions irradiated with a fluence of 6 × 10¹³ p/cm², suggesting the increase of non-radiative recombination centers. Moreover, the intensity of emission peak D_complex centered at 1.48 eV dominates in the PL spectrum obtained from irradiated regions, ascribed to the increase of interstitial dislocation loops and A centers. The intensity of TSC spectra in irradiated regions decreases compared to the virgin regions, resulting from the charge collection inefficiency caused by proton-induced recombination centers. By comparing the intensity of identified traps obtained from numerical fitting using simultaneous multiple peak analysis (SIMPA) method, it suggests that proton irradiation under such dose can introduce high density of dislocation and A-centers in CdZnTe crystals, consistent with PL results.