Structuring effect of heteroepitaxial CdHgTe/CdZnTe systems under irradiation with silver ions

The characteristics of a damaged layer of $p$-Cd$_x$Hg$_{1-x}$Te/CdZnTe ($x\sim$ 0.223) heterostructures after implantation by 100-keV silver ions with the implantation dose $Q$ = 3.0 $\times$ 10$^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ have been obtained using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and electron microscopy. It has been found that, as a result of the ion implantation and subsequent annealing (75$^\circ$C), a uniform array of nanostructures is formed on the surface of Hg(Cd)Te/Zn(Cd)Te samples. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the structurized Hg(Cd)Te/Zn(Cd)Te sample indicate the formation of polycrystalline Hg(Cd)Te phases of cubic structure with a composition $x\sim$ 0.20 and also oxide Ag$_2$O in the subsurface ($<$ 100 nm) region of the host material. The observed effects of transformation of the defect-impurity system and structuring of the surface of the heteroepitaxial film of the low-energy-gap semiconductor have been explained using a deformation model.