Low-resistance contacts to p-type Li-diffused CdTe

Abstract
Reproducible low‐resistance contacts to p‐type CdTe single crystals have been made by diffusion of Li into the CdTe surface before evaporation of Au as the contact metal. Diffusion produces a surface hole density of about 1019 cm3 at room temperature; this results in a contact resistivity of the order of 0.01 Ω cm2, the lowest value reported to date for p‐type CdTe. The high diffusivity of Li results in a degradation of the contacts even at room temperature, with the degradation rate critically dependent on the temperature used for Li diffusion. The optimum temperature appears to be about 280 °C; contacts formed on surfaces diffused with Li at this temperature show a contact resistivity of 0.025 Ω cm2 after 5 months.

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