Proceedings of Symposium F on New Aspects on the Growth, Characterization andApplications of CdTe and Related Cd Rich Alloys of the 1992 E-MRS Spring

摘要

This four-day Symposium has provided the opportunity to take stock of theresearched devoted to CdTe and related Cd-rich alloys (roughly in the band gap energy range 1-2 eV) during the last decade, since the encyclopedic and famous work of De Nobel (1960), the Strasbourg conferences of 1972 and 1977, both dedicated to CdTe, and the excellent monography of K. Zanio (1977). CdTe exhibits numerous attractive features. It has a band gap of 1.5 eV, just in the middle of the solar spectrum, making it an ideal material for photovoltaic conversion. It also has a high average atomic number of 50, very convenient for nuclear detection. A high electro-optic coefficient is another feature (5.5 for CdTe:V to compare with 1.2 for GaAs:Cr or 1.34 for InP:Fe) allowing high performance electro-optic modulators and photorefractive devices. It can present both types of conductivity (n and p), which makes diode technology and field effect transistors possible, and it has a semi-insulating state as well.