Concentration of uncompensated impurities as a key parameter of CdTe and CdZnTe crystals for Schottky diode xγ-ray detectors

In this paper we report on the strong impact of the concentration of uncompensated impurities on the detection efficiency of CdTe and Cd0.9Zn0.1Te Schottky diodes. The results of our study explain the observed poor detection properties of some Cd0.9Zn0.1Te detectors with resistivity and lifetime of carriers comparable to those of good CdTe detectors. We show that the concentration of uncompensated impurities in a highly efficient CdTe Schottky diode detector is several orders of magnitude higher than that of a CdZnTe, which does not register the gamma spectra of commonly used isotopes (59–662 keV) by using photoelectric measurements. The significant difference of the concentration of uncompensated impurities between CdTe and Cd0.9Zn0.1Te crystals is confirmed by our study of the temperature change of the resistivity and of the Fermi level energy. The degree of compensation of the donor complex, responsible for the electrical conductivity of the material, is much lower in the CdTe crystal compared to that in the Cd0.9Zn0.1Te crystal. The calculations of the detection efficiency of x/γ-radiation by a Schottky diode result in a dependence on the concentration of uncompensated impurities described by a curve with a pronounced maximum. The position of this maximum occurs at a concentration of uncompensated impurities which ranges from 3 × 1010 to 3 × 1012 cm−3 depending on the registered photon energy of x/γ-rays and on the lifetime of the charge carriers. Our measurements and calculations lead to the conclusion that the concentration of uncompensated impurities in this range is a necessary condition for the effective operation of x- and γ-ray Schottky diode detectors based on CdTe and Cd1−xZnxTe crystals.

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