Effects of Mn on the high pressure phase transtions in HgTe and related materials

Abstract X-ray diffraction measurements have been performed on HgxMn1-xTe (x < 0.1) at 298 K under hydrostatic pressures to 12.0 GPa for the purpose of studying the effect of replacing Hg with Mn in HgTe The B3-to-B9 transition takes place at 2.3±0.1 GPa. In constrast to HgTe and HgCdTe, both of which pass from the B9 to the A5 phase (diatomic equivalent of β-Sn) via the B1 structure, HgMnTe transforms directly from the B9 to the A5 phase. The effect of alloying HgTe with Mn is similar to that of alloying with Zn, concerning the stability of the B1 phase, whereas the stabilit of the B3 phase is comparable with that of Hg0.8Cd0.2Te.