Recombination processes in 3 to 5 μm HgCdTe

An analysis of the decay of the excess majority carriers created by a photon beam with an energy higher than the energy gap is given. The recombination processes as well as the radiative process and also the Auger process are studied for Hg1−xCdxTe when x is nearly equal to 0.30, and their range of validity versus temperature is defined. From the continuity equations, the change of ne versus time is deduced when the recombination takes place in deep levels for a given injectpion rate ne0. The capture cross section NRτn0 of a given level at weak injection rate and at low temperature is obtained from the slope of In(ne(t)). At higher temperature, the population of the re‐ combination level and the ionisation enefgy with respect to the valence band are determined from the slope of ne(t) at high injection rate and from the slope of In(ne(t)) at weak injection.