An experimental and theoretical study of the electron mobility in the semimetal-semiconductor alloy system Hg& "Cd"Se is reported. for the range of compositions 0.12 & x & 0.68 and at temperatures from 4.2 to 300 K. The samples used in the study are single-crystal specimens grown by the traveling-molten-zone and the Bridgman methods. The mobility data are analyzed in terms of a microscopic theory of electrical conduction appropriate to the alloy system, and the dominant intrinsic and defect-scattering mechanisms are determined.The analysis includes scattering of electrons by longitudinal-optical phopons, longitudinaland transverseacoustical phonons, charged and neutral defects, heavy holes, and the compositional disorder potential of the alloy. It is found that longitudinal-optical-phonon scattering is the dominant mechanism at room temperature for all alloys in the composition range studied. Acoustical-phonon scattering is unimportant at all temperatures and compositions. Scattering associated with the compositional disorder of the alloy increases from 5% of the total scattering at x = 0.12 to 21 k at x = 0.68. Evidence is presented for the presence of four defect species: a donor associated with the HgSe lattice, a donor associated with the CdSe lattice, an acceptor associated with the CdSe lattice, and a stable neutral defect associated with the HgSe lattice.
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