Carrier recombination lifetime characterization of molecular beam epitaxially grown HgCdTe

Abstract

Carrier recombination lifetime measurements and analyses based on Shockley-Read-Hall, radiative, and Auger recombination mechanisms were utilized to characterize the material quality of HgCdTe grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The Auger recombination mechanism employed in this analysis is in the theoretical framework according to Beattie and Landsberg [Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 249, 16 (1959)], which we independently re-evaluated using the electronic band structures computed with a 14-band kp methodology and direct evaluations of the transition rates. The Levenberg-Marquette method was used to fit the temperature-dependent carrier recombination lifetimes as measured by the photoconductive decay technique. Based on the above methods, carrier recombination lifetime measurements were developed as a routine characterization technique. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.