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.