Neutralization of acceptor and donor impurities in hydrogenated CdTe

Abstract n-Type CdTe crystals were hydrogenated by annealing under hydrogen gas at 500°C. A strong reduction in donor concentration by orders of magnitude was observed and attributed to the neutralization of donor impurities by formation of complexes with hydrogen. The diffusion profiles of deuterium were measured and analysed in terms of a neutral fast diffusing species (atomic deuterium) and a charged slow species trapped on ionized acceptors.