A quick thermoelectric technique for typing HgCdTe at liquid nitrogen temperature

Abstract

A simple and quick technique based on thermoelectric effect of semiconductors has been developed for screening the conductivity type of narrow band-gap HgCdTe materials. This technique generates a temperature gradient across the sample by partly dipping it in liquid nitrogen. The induced Seebeck voltage is then measured by loading two spring contact probes to two separate points on the sample below and above the liquid nitrogen level. It was found, as expected by the theory, that the thermoelectric measurements on p-type HgCdTe are much less influenced by the inverted surface effects than Hall measurements.