Micro-diffraction Investigation of Localized Strain in Mesa-etched HgCdTe Photodiodes

We present an x-ray micro-diffraction investigation of localized strain and lattice disorientation in HgCdTe layers with a submicronic resolution using a synchrotron white beam in Laue configuration. Diffraction peak displacement mapping evidences bending of the crystal planes around mesa-etched photodiodes, with strong dependence upon the processing steps. The etching step by itself does not induce any deformation within the layer, while the passivation step leads to sufficient strain for plastic deformation to occur at the lateral edges of the etching. The annealing step is found to have a healing effect on the layer, which reduces the overall deformation and even re-crystallizes plastically deformed areas of the layer.