Precipitation and phase stability of (Hg,Cd)Te

Abstract

Precipitation of tellurium in solid (Hg,Cd)Te has been investigated. Review of phase equilibria data and review of conditions required for solid‐state precipitation demonstrates that the conditions necessary for precipitation exist along the tellurium‐saturated phase limit for (Hg,Cd)Te. Metallographic techniques have been used to demonstrate the existence of precipitate particles up to a density of 1012 cm−3 in solid‐state recrystallized (Hg,Cd)Te. The effects of such particles on the properties of (Hg,Cd)Te are discussed. It is shown that remnants of the Te precipitate structure would be expected to persist in post‐annealed (Hg,Cd)Te.