Investigation of semi-insulating Cs2Hg6S7and Cs2Hg6-xCdxS7 alloy for hard radiation detection

Hao Li, Christos D. Malliakas, Zhifu Liu, John A. Peters, Maria Sebastian, Lidong Zhao, Duck Young Chung, Bruce W. Wessels, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new method is described to synthesize the semiconductor Cs2Hg6S7 and its alloy with Cd. Using the assynthesized material, large single crystals have been grown by the Bridgman method under an improved set of crystal growth parameters. In addition, Cd alloying in the form of Cs2Hg6-xCdxS7 (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, etc.) as well as doping with In, Cl was investigated and the influence on the electronic properties was studied. Cd alloying increases the band gap of Cs2Hg6S7 from 1.63 to 1.84 eV. Doping with In and Cl however creates electron carriers and changes p-type samples of Cs2Hg6S7 into n type. A 30-fold increase in the resistivity of the single crystals from 2 × 106 to 0.65 × 108 Ω cm has been achieved. The carrier mobility-lifetime product of the Cs2Hg6S7 crystals has been increased to 1.7 × 10-3 cm2/V for electrons (μτ)e and 2.4 × 10-3 cm2/V for holes (μτ)h (HgCl2 doped). The measured (μτ)e value is comparable to the commercial CdZnTe crystal while the (μτ)h is 10 times higher. Detection of Ag X-ray radiation is demonstrated using the as-grown Cs2Hg6S7 crystals. (Graph Presented).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5949-5956
Number of pages8
JournalCrystal Growth and Design
Volume14
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 5 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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