Boron oxide encapsulated vertical Bridgman grown CdZnTe crystals as X-ray detector material

CdZnTe crystals doped with indium were grown by the boron oxide vertical Bridgman technique, with a diameter of 2-inches. The crystals showed large single crystalline yield and low etch pit density. The background impurity content was dominated by boron in concentration lower than 1 ppm. High resistivity was obtained and a procedure for contact preparation was developed. The mobility-lifetime product of the material was determined by both X-ray irradiation and photocurrent spectroscopy. The X-ray detector prepared with this material showed good spectroscopic characteristics.