Subgap time of flight: A spectroscopic study of deep levels in semi-insulating CdTe:Cl

We report on a study of deep levels in semi-insulating CdTe:Cl by means of a time-of-flight spectral approach. By varying the wavelength of a pulsed optical source within the CdTe energy gap, transitions to/from localized levels generate free carriers which are analysed through the induced photocurrent transients. Both acceptor-like centers, related to the A-center, and a midgap level, 0.725 eV from the valence band, have been detected. The midgap level is close to the Fermi level and is possibly a recombination center responsible for the compensation mechanism. When the irradiance is varied, either linear or quadratic dependence of the electron and hole collected charge are observed, depending on the dominant optical transitions. The analysis discloses the potentiality of such a novel approach exploitable in the field of photorefractive materials as well as for deep levels spectroscopy.