Low-Temperature Neutron Diffraction in the (Pb,Cd)Te Solid Solution Containing 2.2% of Cd

Abstract

The (Pb,Cd)Te solid solution forms a metastable single crystals for a solution containing more than 1% of CdTe due to its very low solubility in PbTe. A possible presence of a phase transitions at low temperatures (like, e.g., that occurring in the (Pb,Ge)Te solid solution starting from 1% of Ge) which could influence the physical properties of (Pb,Cd)Te system was never checked. In order to verify this possibility the neutron diffraction studies were performed in the temperature range from 21 K to 39 K in the single crystal of (Pb,Cd)Te solid solution with 2.2% of CdTe grown by self-selecting vapour growth method and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction. The (Pb,Cd)Te sample was measured using the four-circle diffractometer installed at a hot neutron source (λ = 0.83 Å). The possible transition does not take place to the lowest investigated temperature and the FWHM of Bragg peaks remains fixed in all temperature range under studies.

Anisotropy of Selected Mechanical Properties of PbTe

“…The mechanical properties of a given semiconductor can be improved by the crystal doping or alloying with another compound exhibiting well selected properties. Several reports were devoted to the crystal structure, mechanical, and thermoelectric properties of solid solutions grown on the basis of PbTe, like, for example, (Pb,Ge)Te or (Pb,Cd)Te (for details, see e.g., the reports and references therein). The Vickers indentation measurements performed on Pb 0.95 Sn 0.05 Te‐PbS 8% polycrystals demonstrated the mean Vickers hardness ( H V ) equal to 1.18 ± 0.09 GPa for hot pressed powder specimens while the same value of cast specimens was 0.68 ± 0.07 GPa .…”