The important features of VHg-related defects in arsenic-doped HgCdTe

The as-grown arsenic-doped HgCdTe typically exhibits compensated n-type conductivity. Based on first-principles calculations, we identify Hg vacancies (VHg) as a dominant defect species involved in the compensation. Arsenic donor (AsHg) and VHg acceptor no doubt tend to combine into complex defects but little has been recognized about the features of the complex defects in precious studies. These features outlined in this work enable us to provide a consistent explanation for arsenic activation mechanism proposed by Zandian et al. [7] and Berding et al. [8].