Laser-induced thermodiffusion of semiconductor inhomogeneities in the spectral transparency region

Analysis of the thermal diffusion contribution to laser-irradiation-induced dissolving in semiconductors of inhomogeneities enriched in metallic components has been carried out for the laser spectral region h(cross) omega <Eg, where Eg is the energy band gap of the semiconductor. Experimental dependences of the rates of variation of free-carrier concentrations in narrow-gap Pb1-xSnxTe(Se) semiconductors, associated with filling of electrically active metal vacancies with atoms from inclusions formed in the process of semiconductor growth, have allowed evaluation of the parameters of the thermodiffusion and diffusion mechanisms, and of the criteria for predominance of the former of these. The experimental values of the times for variation of the electrical characteristics of Pb1-xSnxTe(Se) crystals are close to the theoretical predictions.