Ion implantation of erbium into polycrystalline cadmium telluride

The specific features of the ion implantation of polycrystalline cadmium telluride with grains 20–1000 $\mu$m in dimensions are studied. The choice of erbium is motivated by the possibility of using rare-earth elements as luminescent “probes” in studies of the defect and impurity composition of materials and modification of the composition by various technological treatments. From the microphotoluminescence data, it is found that, with decreasing crystal-grain dimensions, the degree of radiation stability of the material is increased. Microphotoluminescence topography of the samples shows the efficiency of the rare-earth probe in detecting regions with higher impurity and defect concentrations, including regions of intergrain boundaries.