Measurements were made of interdiffusion in (001) superlattices which had been grown by using molecular beam epitaxy. The interdiffusion coefficients were deduced from double-crystal X-ray diffraction studies of samples which had been annealed, at temperatures ranging from 200 to 240C, in a saturated Hg ambient. The results indicated that the interdiffusion was strongly concentration-dependent, with a coefficient that could be described by:

D(cm2/s) = 1.0 x 100 exp[-1.45(eV)/kT] exp[-0.55(eV)CCd/kT]

The activation energies of about 1.45eV for HgTe, and about 2.0eV for CdTe, were consistent with interdiffusion via a vacancy mechanism.

A.Tardot, A.Hamoudi, N.Magnea, P.Gentile, J.L.Pautrat: Applied Physics Letters, 1993, 62[20], 2548-50