Molecular beam epitaxial growth and characterization of Cd_1−xZn_xTe, Hg_1−xCd_xTe, Hg_1−xMn_xTe, and Hg_1−xZn_xTe on GaAs(100)

The growth of Cd_1−xZn_xTe on GaAs (100) is reported here for the first time. In contrast to CdTe, when x is higher than 0.15 only the Cd_1−xZn_xTe(100)∥GaAs(100) orientation is observed. We also present the growth and characterization of n‐type and p‐type layers of Hg_1−xCd_xTe, Hg_1−xMn_xTe, and Hg_1−xZn_xTe for the first time, in most of the cases. These layers exhibit high structural and good electrical properties. Several different characterizations carried out on Hg_1−xCd_xTe layers grown by MBE on GaAs substrates show that this material is at least as good as the best material grown by any other technique and confirm that GaAs is emerging as the candidate for replacement of CdTe as the substrate for growth of Hg_1−xCd_xTe by MBE. Hg_1−xMn_xTe and mainly Hg_1−xZn_xTe, which have electrical characteristics similar to high quality Hg_1−xCd_xTe, appear as potential candidates for replacement of Hg_1−xCd_xTe.