Fermi level pinning and electrical properties of irradiated CdxHg1-xTe alloys

The composition dependence of the local neutrality level E-lnl in CdxHg1-xTe alloys has been studied theoretically. It is shown that for compositions with x < 0.47 the E-lnl level lies within the conduction band, and at x > 0.47 it lies in the upper half of the band gap. The identification of the calculated E-lnl values with the limiting position of the Fermi level (F-lim) in CdxHg1-xTe irradiated with high-energy particles suggests that irradiation is responsible for the n(+)- or n-type conduction in the material. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka /Interperiodica".