Measurements were made of the thermodynamic properties of In-VHg pairs in the infra-red material, Hg0.79Cd0.21Te, by using perturbed angular correlation methods. This permitted the determination of the absolute fraction of In atoms in particular defects. Previous measurements had characterized the In-V pairs as having hyperfine interaction frequencies of 83 and 92MHz. These defects were observed in materials which were quenched from above 350C in order to retain a large number of metal vacancies. After subsequent low-temperature (60 to 110C) annealing, the fraction of In atoms that had trapped vacancies increased because of the migration of metal vacancies. By measuring the rate of increase at various temperatures, the vacancy migration energy was deduced to be equal to 0.45eV. Annealing at slightly higher temperatures dissociated the In-V pairs. From the decrease in the In-V pair fraction as a function of temperature, the In-V pair binding energy was deduced to be 0.44eV.

The Thermodynamics of Indium-Vacancy Pairs in Hg0.79Cd0.21Te. W.C.Hughes, J.C.Austin, M.L.Swanson: Journal of Crystal Growth, 1994, 138[1-4], 1040-5