Cathodoluminescence investigations on CdTe and Cd0.96Zn0.04Te crystals

Cathodoluminescence investigations were carried out on CdTe and Cd0.96Zn0.04Te crystals, to identify the dominant acceptor bound exciton (A0,X) and the free electron-to-bound acceptor (eA0) transitions in these crystals. Temperature dependent studies confirm the free electron-to-bound acceptor transition (eA0) character of the 1.576 eV emission observed in our CdTe crystals. The broad emission band in the energy range 1.4–1.55 eV (often called the defect band in CdTe), which was present in our CdTe crystal, was absent in our Cd0.96Zn0.04Te crystals (having a low rocking curve half-width of 40 arcsec) and seems to be related to structural defects (such as dislocations) in the crystal.