Summary Abstract: Band offsets at HgTe CdTe interfaces

Band offsets are an important physical characteristic of any heterojunction. The HgTe-CdTe offset is particularly important since it affects the properties of the superlattice which is under much investigation theoretically and experimentally (1,2). To measure band offsets an abrupt interface is necessary, requiring limited interdiffusion between each material. This requires a low temperature technique to grow a HgTe epitaxial layer on CdTe. Conventional Te-rich liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) has too much interdiffusion for a menaingful measurement. Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) which can be done at 325 °C possibly has too much interdiffusion (3). Up until now the lowest temperature growth technique has been molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) which grows in the range 120-200 °C with best epitaxy near 200 °C (4). Below is a description of a novel Hg-rich LPE technique which also gives growth in the range 125-200 °C.