Effects of gradient heat treatment on Te-rich CdZnTe crystal

The gradient heat treatment was performed on Te-rich CZT crystal grown by the vertical Bridgman (VB) method, which was under the temperature of 1073 K and the temperature gradient of 2 K/mm and the velocity of 1.8 mm/h. IR transmission, IR microscope, I–V curves and glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) revealed that Te inclusions moved towards the last-to-freeze region in CZT ingot, which proved that the gradient heat treatment has the possibility to purify the CZT ingot. Finally, after the gradient heat treatment, the resistivity of the CZT ingot was enhanced, and the IR transmittance was also improved.