The effect of grain boundaries, in films having a cellular or polycrystalline structure, upon the segregation of point defects and the generation and recombination of carriers under laser irradiation was studied. It was established that the inter-grain paths of CdHgTe films, acting as electrically active interfaces, could fulfill the function of sink and recombination inclusions, as well as creating potential barriers to the recombination of charge carriers. The laser-stimulated photo-sensitization of CdHgTe films with a cellular structure, a jump in the current–illumination characteristics and an anomalous injection-level dependence of the non-equilibrium carrier lifetime in polycrystalline CdHgTe films at high illumination intensities, were analyzed.

Laser-Stimulated Control of Interfaces at Grain Boundaries in Polycrystalline CdxHg1-xTe Films. V.A.Gnatyuk, T.Aoki, Y.Hatanaka: Applied Surface Science, 2003, 216[1-4], 88-93