Raytheon Company

Santa Barbara Research Center

Sanghamitra Sen

David R Rhiger

Gregory H Altman

Carlos J Bosques

Enrico Mortarino

William J Hamilton, Jr

Maria L Ufret

Impurities are extracted from a thin-film device structure based on mercury, cadmium, zinc, and/or tellurium, such as HgCdTe, CdTe, CdZnTe, or HgCdZnTe. The impurities are extracted by furnishing a sink medium comprising molten bismuth, and contacting the contaminated structure to the sink medium for a period of time sufficiently long that impurities diffuse out of the structure and into the bismuth for removal. The molten bismuth may additionally contain small amounts of one or more of the major components of the structure (mercury, cadmium, zinc, and/or tellurium) to inhibit loss of these elements from the structure.

Extraction of impurities from structures containing mercury, cadmium, zinc, or tellurium, and impurities

Gamma ray detectors (20, 130) are provided with a detector layer (30) that is formed of Hg.sub.x Cd.sub.1-x-y Zn.sub.y Te, wherein 0&lt;x&lt;0.05 and 0.ltoreq.y&lt;0.5. The Hg percentage in the group II sublattice of this detector layer is limited to replace Cd vacancies. These Cd vacancies are native point defects which degrade the resolution of gamma ray detectors because they facilitate early electron-hole recombination and time delays of current carriers.

Gamma ray detector with improved resolution and method of fabrication

Growing community of inventors

Ventura, CA, United States of America

Sanghamitra Sen