Role of the charge state of deep vanadium impurities and associations of defects in photoelectric and optical properties of semi-insulating CdTe

Photoexcited carrier and space charge field subnanosecond dynamics has been investigated in bulk vanadium-doped and Cl- (or As-) co-doped CdTe crystals by using a degenerate four-wave mixing technique. Time-resolved measurements of picosecond grating decay at various illumination intensities revealed peculiarities of defect transformation with doping or under illumination. Novel features in carrier generation and dynamics were observed for the first time and allowed parameters of the defects to be extracted. A fast electron capture and its saturation with increasing intensity of illumination were observed in CdTe:V and attributed to a Cd divacancy, which is known as a deep double acceptor. Numerical modelling by using the two-deep-trap model allowed us to extract the concentration and recombination activity of Cd divacancies. An enhanced electron generation rate by factor of 3-4 was found in Cl-co-dopcd CdTe:V crystals in spite of a decreased density of donor vanadium states after the co-doping. We attribute this additional channel of electron generation to photoexcitation of the DX centre, which activation energy of 1-1.2 eV is close to a quantum energy of the YAG:Nd laser used (h nu = 1.17 eV).