Ohmic contacts on n‐type CdTe and CdZnTe using coherently grown neodymium

Low resistance metallic contacts have been realized on n‐type doped CdTe and CdZnTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The n‐type doping of the layers was achieved using iodine or indium as a dopant. The metal/II–VI semiconductor heterostructures were realized with neodymium that was found to grow coherently on CdTe and CdZnTe substrates, with formation of a reacted compound at the interface. This interfacial layer is noted IL(Nd). The specific contact resistance, ρc, of the Nd/IL(Nd)/n‐CdTe and Nd/IL(Nd)/n‐CdZnTe heterostructures was measured using the transmission line model. The best result of 2.5×10−5 Ω cm2 is obtained for Nd/IL(Nd)/n‐CdTe and for a doping level of about 6×1018 cm−3. An exponential increase of the ρc value is found when increasing zinc concentration in the CdZnTe alloys.