LASER-ASSISTED EVAPORATION OF HIGH-QUALITY NARROW-GAP THIN-FILMS

High-quality narrow-gap Pb1-xSnxTe (0 less-than-or-equal-to x less-than-or-equal-to 1) and Hg0.74Cd0.26Te monocrystalline films were obtained on ''cold'' (T almost-equal-to 290-470 K) substrates by a laser-assisted evaporation method. It was proved that over a rather wide range of laser densities W almost-equal-to (2-8) x 10(4)W cm-2 on the target (quasi-continuous regime of the CO2 laser) and for substrate temperatures T almost-equal-to 400-500 K, good electrical characteristics (carrier concentrations N77 almost-equal-to (3-30) x 10(16) cm-3, carrier mobilities up to mu77 almost-equal-to (3-4) X 10(4) cm2 V-1 s-1) can be achieved which are comparable with those of the best single crystals obtained after long-duration thermal annealing at higher temperatures. The half-width of the Bragg diffraction profiles of the best films was in the range theta almost-equal-to 30''-50''.