A method was presented for the determination of the diffusivities of donors at relatively low temperatures in p-type semiconductors. The method was based upon capacitance transient measurements, performed at various temperatures. The law which described the capacitance transient was determined, and this then permitted the determination of the diffusion coefficient. It was found that the data for Cu and Ag diffusion in Cd0.7Hg0.3Te,

Ag:     D (cm2/s) = 1.2 x 10-6exp[-0.20(eV)/kT]

Cu:     D (cm2/s) = 9.0 x 10-9exp[-0.17(eV)/kT]

were in good agreement with published results. In the case of Ag, a change in slope of the Arrhenius plot was found (figure 1), and this was explained in terms of a mechanism which involved acceptor-donor complex formation.

B.O.Wartlick, J.F.Barbot, C.Blanchard: Philosophical Magazine B, 1997, 75[5], 639-46