Observation of surface evaporation of Hg from HgTe crystals by means of energetic oxygen ion backscattering
- 1 September 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 37 (5) , 460-462
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.91964
Abstract
Dissociation of Hg from the near‐surface region of HgTe crystals was observed, up to 10 μm, by means of 42‐MeV O5+ backscattering. Samples were annealed in vacuum at various temperatures up to 280 °C. The change of the backscattering spectra with annealing time and temperature indicated that the Hg atoms evaporated almost completely from the near‐surface region to a depth d(t,T) and that only Te atoms remained there. The interface between the Te region and the HgTe crystal migrated at a velocity u(T) which was determined as u(T)=1.2×105 exp(−1.2 eV/kT) cm/sec. This is accounted for by a simple phenomenological model which suggests that the migration of the Hg atoms across the interface is the rate controlling process for the whole boundary migration process.Keywords
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