Temperature dependence of the band gap of Cd1−xZnxTe alloys of low zinc concentrations

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The temperature dependence of the fundamental band‐gap E0 of Cd1−xZnxTe alloys with zinc concentrations in the 0 to 0.3 range has been determined by modulated photoreflectance (PR). E0 is found to vary from 1.511 eV for x=0.00 to 1.667±0.008 eV for x=0.3, at room temperature and from 1.602 eV at x=0.00 to 1.762±0.004 eV for x=0.3 at 10 K. The measured broadening parameters Γ have values between 25 and 45 meV at room temperature and decrease monotonically to values around 5 meV or smaller at 10 K. The temperature dependence of the observed band gap energies is well described by the well known Varshni formula E(T)=E(0)−AT2/(T+Θ) for all samples studied. The PR temperature broadening is well understood assuming that it results from the scattering of the excitonic electron‐hole pair responsible of the band‐to‐band transition PR signal off LO phonons.