We present a comprehensive review of the material properties of cadmium zinc telluride (CZT, Cd1ˇxZnxTe) with zinc content xa 0:1‐0.2. Particular emphasis is placed on those aspects of this material related to room temperature nuclear detectors. A review of the structural properties, charge transport, and contacting issues and how these are related to detector and spectrometer performance is presented. A comprehensive literature survey and bibliography are also included. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Cadmium zinc telluride and its use as a nuclear radiation detector material

Over the last decade, cadmium telluride (CdTe) and cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) wide band gap semiconductors have attracted increasing interest as X-ray and gamma ray detectors. Among the traditional high performance spectrometers based on silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge), CdTe and CdZnTe detectors show high detection efficiency and good room temperature performance and are well suited for the development of compact and reliable detection systems. In this paper, we review the current status of research in the development of CdTe and CdZnTe detectors by a comprehensive survey on the material properties, the device characteristics, the different techniques for improving the overall detector performance and some major applications. Astrophysical and medical applications are discussed, pointing out the ongoing Italian research activities on the development of these detectors.

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Progress in the Development of CdTe and CdZnTe Semiconductor Radiation Detectors for Astrophysical and Medical Applications

Characterization of CdTe thin film—dependence of structural and optical properties on temperature and thickness

Fundamental studies on Bridgman growth of CdTe

Many efforts have been made to grow CdTe bulk crystals with a low defect content but improvements are limited. The best ingots with large extended single-crystal regions can be grown by the vertical Bridgman method. However, fundamental studies about the CdTe growth peculiarities are absent. Our investigations are concentrated on the following problems: (i) the influence of the melt structure, from which an associated state is assumed, on the crystalline quality, (ii) the composition instability in conventional ampoules, (iii) the segregation behaviour of the excess component (normally tellurium), (iv) the axial distribution of inclusions and precipitations, (v) the mass transport in modified ampoules with an additional cadmium source, (vi) the correlation between the vacancy and impurity segregation and (vii) the substrate purity as a function of the axial crystal position.

L.G. Bland

Papers

Crystal growth of large-area single-crystal CdTe and CdZnTe by the computer-controlled vertical modified-Bridgman process☆