A widespread application of CdTe in the γ-ray detector production meets higher requirements imposed on its initial crystal growth conditions and further properties. Electrophysical properties of the CdTe melt especially in the vicinity of a stoichiometric equiatomic composition are essential for solving of a number of technological problems. Investigations of CdTe in the liquid state are few in number due to difficulties of high-temperature measurements and a high pressure of the component saturated streams. Peculiarities of the melting and crystallization were investigated in the course of the viscosity studies [1]. The thorough investigation of electrophysical properties were performed in [2]. Nevertheless, low pressures used in these experiments did not suppress intensive melt evaporation.
In this work the electrical conductivity σ(T) and thermo-emf S(T) of pure liquid CdTe alloys and with admixtures of arsenic (approx. 0.14 at.%) were investigated in a wide temperature range between 1470 K and the crystallization under argon pressure up to 25 MPa.
Admixtures of As do not lead to any peculiarities on the σ(T) curves, but only decrease the absolute values, while S(T) takes the negative values after melting and then regains positive values with heating. Such a behavior suggests that mobility decreasing dominates over the carrier concentration increase during melting. The As admixture forms shallow acceptor levels in the solid CdTe. The pseudogap narrows in the course of cooling and tails the acceptor level. The pure As manifests then itself in the CdTe melt as an additional scattering center that leads to the electrical conductivity decreasing. The results are analyzed under the assumption that the Fermi level drifts as the sample composition changes.

1. L.Shcherbak, P.Feychuk, Yu.Plevachuk et al., Phys. Stat. Sol. (b), 229(1), 165 (2002).
2. A.Ben Moussa, B.Giordanengo, J.C. Humbert et al., Phys. Rev. B, 62(23), 256 (2000).

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