Characterization by diffuse X-ray scattering of damage in ion-implanted HgCdTe

The diffuse X-ray scattering near Bragg peaks was used to characterize the structural defects induced by implantation of 320 keV Al ions in (111) Hg0.8Cd0.2Te crystals at liquid nitrogen temperature and at room temperature. In the former case it is shown that low temperature implantation induces a strongly compressed layer located near the region of the maximum nuclear energy loss of ions. A strong redistribution of the implantation damage is shown to occur around 150 K. In the latter case interstitial dislocation loops are shown to be the main implantation defects. Point defect saturation is observed from a fluence of 5 x 10(+13) ions/cm(2).