Metastable behaviоr of current-voltage characteristics of p—n-junctions formed on СdHgTe

O. A. Soltanovich, E. B. Yakimov, N. A. Yarykin
Institute of Microelectronics Technology and High Purity Materials RAS, Chernogolovka, Russia

N+-p-junctions formed in p-type Hg0,6Сd0,4Te crystals by ion implantation are studied. It is found that leakage current of the structures at liquid nitrogen temperature is strongly dependent on the cooling conditions from room temperature: leakage current is small after bias-off cooling and several decades higher after bias-on cooling. Both states are stable at 78 K during hours; the reversible transitions between the states can be performed by room temperature annealing and subsequent cooling under appropriate bias. Investigation of the structures by the DLTS technique shows that the variations of leakage current are accompanied by transformations of the deep level spectrum of the crystal and, therefore, can be associated with the reconstruction of metastable centers located in space charge region of the p-n-junction. The kinetics of the metastable transition indicate possible spreading of the transition activation energy due to local inhomogeneity of the alloy composition.

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