The electrical and optical properties of CdS single crystals, irradiated to a fluence of more than 1018/cm2 of fast reactor neutrons, were studied. It was established that clusters of defects were formed in the irradiated material, and that cadmium vacancies predominated in these clusters. In the case where the defect clusters were decomposed during radiation-stimulated annealing or thermal annealing at 200 to 400C, the crystal lattice became enriched with Cd vacancies. It was proposed that sub-threshold effects played an important role in the formation of defect clusters, and that these effects were related to preferential excitation of the K shells in Cd atoms and their Coulomb ejection from the core of a cluster.

Special Features of the Mechanism of Defect Formation in CdS Single Crystals Subjected to Irradiation with High Doses of Fast Reactor Neutrons. H.Y.Davydyuk, A.H.Kevshyn, V.V.Bozhko, V.V.Halyan: Semiconductors, 2009, 43[11], 1401-6