An investigation was made of the effect of 6MeV electron irradiation, to 7.1 x 1017/cm2 at 300K, upon the galvanomagnetic properties of Pb1-xSnxSe alloys, where x was 0.20 or 0.25. The experimental results were explained in terms of a model, for the energy spectrum of electron-irradiated PbSnSe, which assumed that electron irradiation led to the appearance of a wide radiation defect band of acceptor type in the forbidden band of the alloys, and to a redistribution of electrons between the conduction band and the radiation defect band. By comparing the theoretical and experimental dependences of the electron concentration upon radiation flux, the main model parameters for the defect formation process were determined. It was shown that agreement between experimental and theoretical data occurred only under the assumption that the introduction rate of radiation defects decreased with an increase in radiation flux. A model was proposed here, according to which the main mechanism of defect formation was the generation of complexes; including the primary radiation defects and the intrinsic structural defects which were typical of the initial crystals.

Energy spectrum and the nature of irradiation-induced defects in Pb1-xSnxSe alloys with inverse band structure E.P.Skipetrov, B.B.Kovalev, L.A.Skipetrova, E.A.Zvereva: Semiconductor Science and Technology, 1998, 13[10], 1134-9