Zinc telluride

<h2 id="properties">Properties</h2>

<p>ZnTe has the appearance of grey or brownish-red powder, or ruby-red crystals when refined by sublimation. Zinc telluride typically has a cubic (sphalerite, or "<a href="/facts/Zincblende/5NumvnzR">zincblende</a>") crystal structure, but can be also prepared as rocksalt crystals or in <a href="/facts/Hexagonal_(crystal_system)/sSSok8wo">hexagonal</a> crystals (<a href="/facts/Wurtzite/QPwdFcCx">wurtzite</a> structure). Irradiated by a strong optical beam burns in presence of oxygen.  Its <a href="/facts/Lattice_constant/h3gMKk6V">lattice constant</a> is 0.6101 nm, allowing it to be grown with or on <a href="/facts/Aluminium_antimonide/HYqmGA72">aluminium antimonide</a>, <a href="/facts/Gallium_antimonide/Aj8NgVKa">gallium antimonide</a>, <a href="/facts/Indium_arsenide/GMhtPVbU">indium arsenide</a>, and <a href="/facts/Lead_selenide/66h19tQ2">lead selenide</a>.  With some lattice mismatch, it can also be grown on other substrates such as <a href="/facts/GaAs/BakLFjpp">GaAs</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> and it can be grown in thin-film <a href="/facts/Polycrystalline/nXSgR0wp">polycrystalline</a> (or nanocrystalline) form on substrates such as glass, for example, in the manufacture of <a href="/facts/Thin-film_solar_cells/54UK9nKn">thin-film solar cells</a>.  In the wurtzite (hexagonal) crystal structure, it has lattice parameters a = 0.427 and c = 0.699 nm.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
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<h2 id="applications">Applications</h2>
<h3>Optoelectronics</h3>
<p>Zinc telluride can be easily <a href="/facts/Doping_(semiconductor)/WrGdtWnm">doped</a>, and for this reason it is one of the more common <a href="/facts/Semiconducting/zFf3mGTE">semiconducting</a> materials used in <a href="/facts/Optoelectronics/0SCr9px0">optoelectronics</a>. ZnTe is important for development of various <a href="/facts/Semiconductor_device/6W3ryr50">semiconductor devices</a>, including blue <a href="/facts/Light-emitting_diode/gE8x4MDb">LEDs</a>, <a href="/facts/Laser_diode/TjHzJteV">laser diodes</a>, <a href="/facts/Solar_cell/3L814UCC">solar cells</a>, and components of <a href="/facts/Microwave/HmVSN31Y">microwave</a> generators.   It can be used for <a href="/facts/Solar_cell/3L814UCC">solar cells</a>, for example, as a back-surface field layer and p-type semiconductor material for a <a href="/facts/Cadmium_Telluride/eyfWTv6Q">CdTe</a>/ZnTe structure<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> or in <a href="/facts/PIN_diode/H4hdX9Un">PIN diode</a> structures.
</p><p>The material can also be used as a component of ternary semiconductor compounds, such as CdxZn(1-x)Te (conceptually a mixture composed from the end-members ZnTe and CdTe), which can be made with a varying composition x to allow the optical bandgap to be tuned as desired.
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<h3>Nonlinear optics</h3>
<p>Zinc telluride together with <a href="/facts/Lithium_niobate/d98DlGny">lithium niobate</a> is often used for generation of pulsed <a href="/facts/Terahertz_radiation/729QecPK">terahertz radiation</a> in <a href="/facts/TDTS/yLXAY1lW">time-domain terahertz spectroscopy</a> and <a href="/facts/Terahertz_imaging/l5zmgAgM">terahertz imaging</a>. When a crystal of such material is subjected to a high-intensity light pulse of subpicosecond duration, it emits a pulse of terahertz frequency through a <a href="/facts/Nonlinear_optics/maerngXd">nonlinear optical</a> process called <a href="/facts/Optical_rectification/ADVyvduP">optical rectification</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> Conversely, subjecting a zinc telluride crystal to terahertz radiation causes it to show optical <a href="/facts/Birefringence/J4lLuR3a">birefringence</a> and change the polarization of a transmitting light, making it an electro-optic detector.
</p><p><a href="/facts/Vanadium/UvKkKTSm">Vanadium</a>-doped zinc telluride, "ZnTe:V", is a non-linear optical <a href="/facts/Photorefractive/3cAutaQa">photorefractive</a> material of possible use in the protection of sensors at <a href="/facts/Visible_light/jeofpMn4">visible</a> wavelengths. ZnTe:V optical limiters are light and compact, without complicated optics of conventional limiters. ZnTe:V can block a high-intensity jamming beam from a <a href="/facts/Laser_dazzler/1blYlMgS">laser dazzler</a>, while still passing the lower-intensity image of the observed scene. It can also be used in <a href="/facts/Holography/4J1gW0M6">holographic</a> <a href="/facts/Interferometry/X3E1SsQT">interferometry</a>, in reconfigurable optical <a href="/facts/Interconnection/3BMeTFXp">interconnections</a>, and in laser <a href="/facts/Nonlinear_optics/maerngXd">optical phase conjugation</a> devices. It offers superior photorefractive performance at wavelengths between 600 and 1300 nm, in comparison with other III-V and II-VI <a href="/facts/Compound_semiconductor/RMcsYTWQ">compound semiconductors</a>. By adding <a href="/facts/Manganese/j9ELd1TL">manganese</a> as an additional dopant (ZnTe:V:Mn), its photorefractive yield can be significantly increased.
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<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zinc telluride.

<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20061025232809/http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/31/312/ncsr/materials/znte.asp">National Compound Semiconductor Roadmap</a> (Office of Naval research) – Accessed April 2006</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Haynes, William M., ed. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (92nd ed.). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 12.85. ISBN 1-4398-5511-0. <a href="1-4398-5511-0" target="_blank">1-4398-5511-0</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Haynes, William M., ed. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (92nd ed.). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 12.80. ISBN 1-4398-5511-0. <a href="1-4398-5511-0" target="_blank">1-4398-5511-0</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>O'Dell, Dakota (2010). MBE Growth and Characterization of ZnTe and Nitrogen-doped ZnTe on GaAs(100) Substrates, Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame. <a href="http://physics.nd.edu/assets/29003/o_dell_reu.pdf" target="_blank">http://physics.nd.edu/assets/29003/o_dell_reu.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Kittel, C. (1976) Introduction to Solid State Physics, 5th edition, p. 28. <a href="/wiki/Introduction_to_Solid_State_Physics" target="_blank">/wiki/Introduction_to_Solid_State_Physics</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Amin, N.; Sopian, K.; Konagai, M. (2007). "Numerical modeling of CdS/Cd Te and CdS/Cd Te/Zn Te solar cells as a function of Cd Te thickness". Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 91 (13): 1202. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2007.04.006. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>THz Generation and Detection in ZnTe. chem.yale.edu <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101201021212/http://www.chem.yale.edu/~cas/ZnTe.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20101201021212/http://www.chem.yale.edu/~cas/ZnTe.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Zinc telluride open-in-new

Zinc telluride