Growth and structure of Cd1–xDyxTe crystals

• CdTe crystals doped with Dy were grown by the vertical Bridgman method.
• Cd1−xDyxTe crystals have cubic structure in the composition range x≈0–0.01.
• Cd1−xDyxTe at x≥0.01 has CdTe host, Dy2Te3 textures and DyTe inclusions.
• Cd1−xDyxTe crystals could be used for IR optical applications.

CdTe crystals doped with dysprosium were grown by the vertical Bridgman method to explore the possibility of obtaining Cd1−xDyxTe ternary compound. The growth was carried out from the Cd1−xDyxTe pre-synthesized feeds with the charge composition in the range of x=0.001–0.05. The as-grown crystals were studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and optical spectroscopy. Experimental findings testify that the Cd1−xDyxTe crystals have the homogeneous cubic structure similar to CdTe in the narrow composition range of x≈0–0.01. At higher compositions x≥0.01, the crystals become a mixture of several phases such as CdTe host, Dy2Te3 textures and DyTe-rich inclusions.