Microphotoluminescence spectroscopy and imaging were used to study the effect of grain boundaries upon the properties of textured polycrystals with a single-crystal grain size of 1 to 2mm; grown under non-equilibrium conditions. Microluminescence probing revealed that most of the grain boundaries were decorated with local centers that emitted in the 1.4eV band of donor–acceptor recombination that involved shallow donors and A-center acceptors. The boundary regions were, to some extent, free of non-radiative recombination centers that were active at room temperature. The gettering activity of the grain boundaries could be detected at distances of up to 100µm. This reflected specific features of the non-equilibrium crystallization conditions.

Effect of Grain Boundaries on the Properties of Cadmium Telluride Grown under Non-Equilibrium Conditions. V.V.Ushakov, Y.V.Klevkov: Semiconductors, 2003, 37[11], 1259-63