Annealing kinetics of radiation defects in boron-implanted p-Hg_1−xCd_xTe

The results of studying the annealing kinetics of the radiation-induced donor-type defects in boron implanted p-type Hg_1−xCd_xTe (MCT) are presented. The annealing kinetics of the radiation donor centers depend significantly on the dose of B⁺ ions, that is on the initial level of structural defects generated in the MCT lattice by ion bombardment. The activation energy E _A of annealing of donor defects generated by implantation of B⁺ ions increases with increasing dose and temperature of the post-implantation heat treatment under the SiO₂ cap. The smaller the dose and the higher the initial hole concentration in p-MCT, the lower the temperature of a complete annealing of donor centers, which lies in the range 220–275 °C. In the initial stages of the post-implantation heat treatment, primary donor defects are annealed, and then, more stable secondary impurity-defect complexes are annealed. It was established for the first time that the activation energy of the donor defects annealing in bulk crystals and heteroepitaxial structures of MCT has two clearly pronounced regions: at low temperatures 90–130 °C, E _A = 0.06 eV and at Т = 150–250 °C, E _A = 0.71–0.86 eV. (paper)