Raman characterization of ion beam etched Hg1−xCdxTe surface

Abstract We report Raman scattering (RS) measurements at 300 K from Hg 1− x Cd x Te ( x ∼0.48), which was etched for a few minutes by an Ar + beam. Features of HgTe-like transverse optical (TO 2 ) mode at 120±1 cm −1 and longitudinal optical (LO 2 ) mode at 140±1 cm −1 are identified. We identified a feature observed at 135±1 cm −1 as clustering mode, which represents the integrity of the crystal lattice. We measured the Raman scattering on a beveled surface in line-scanning manner; the results showed that ion beam induced damage extends to a depth of more than 1 μm, while the ion beam’s penetrating depth is no more than 10 nm.