Date of Award
11-1983
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Advisor
Robert F. Brebrick
Second Advisor
Robert N. Blumenthal
Third Advisor
Jeffrey L. Hock
Fourth Advisor
Martin A. Seitz
Fifth Advisor
Walter M. Hirthe
Abstract
It has long been recognized that the ternary solid solution system Hg1-xCdxTe(s) is the most important infrared detector material for military and industrial applications. Due to its high values, the mercury pressure over the system plays an important role in both single crystal growth and post-growth annealing processes to obtain a desired composition and required electronic properties. On the other hand, a knowledge of the equilibrium phase relationships that govern the crystal growth is also essential. The partial pressures of the three predominant vapor species over the system, Hg, Cd, and Te2, have been measured for various x-values along the pseudobinary solid solution and for some melt compositions. However the data did not extend over a wide enough composition range to uniquely characterize the entire system in a thermodynamic sense. This investigation sought to extend the previous efforts and to establish some of the equilibrium thermodynamic data in this mercury-cadmium-tellurium system.