Transient and steady-state excess carrier lifetimes in p-type HgCdTe

Abstract
The transient and steady‐state excess carrier lifetimes in p‐type Hg0.775Cd0.225Te have been measured as a function of temperature. It is demonstrated that the transient lifetime can be greater than the steady‐state lifetime by as much as a factor of 16 at 77 K. This difference is attributed to minority‐carrier trapping, and explains, in part, the large range of lifetimes which have been reported for this material.