Mercury containment for liquid phase growth of mercury cadmium telluride from tellurium-rich solution

摘要

Hg.sub.1-x Cd.sub.x Te is an important semiconductor for use in photovoltaic and photoconductive infrared photon detectors. Hg.sub.1-x Cd. sub.x Te can be grown by liquid phase epitaxy at atmospheric pressure from a Te-rich solution in which case the Hg vapor pressure is below 0.1 atm at 500° C. This low vapor pressure makes possible the use of open- tube, slider growth techniques. The present invention describes a covered graphite slider system which provides an additional source of Hg, minimizes loss of Hg from the source wafer and virtually prevents loss of Hg from the (Hg.sub.1-x Cd.sub.x).sub.1-y Te.sub.y growth solution.