The impact of the plasma volume discharge in the atmospheric-pressure air on the distribution of the surface potential in a V-defect region of epitaxial HgCdTe films

In the present report we demonstrate the experimental data obtained as a result of studying the impact of nanosecond plasma volume discharge in the atmospheric-pressure air on the distribution of the surface potential in the V-defect regions of epitaxial HgCdTe films. The experimental data obtained for the variation of the contact potential difference (ΔCPD) between the V-defect and the main matrix of the epitaxial film show that the mean value of ΔCPD for the original surface differs from the one for the irradiated surface for 55 eV. At the same time the mean value of ΔCPD changes its sign indicating that the original surface of the epitaxial HgCdTe film predominantly contains the grains with increased cadmium content while after the irradiation the grains possess an increased content of mercury. Therefore, during the irradiation process a decrease of the mercury content in the near-surface region of the semiconductor takes place resulting in the alteration of the electrophysical properties in the film's near-surface region.