Microdefects in Te-Rich PbTe Bulk Crystal

The microdefects in Te-rich PbTe coating material grown by Bridgman technique have been studied via transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the major microdefects in Te-rich PbTe crystal are plate-like defects lying on 100 plane and homogeneously distributed in the matrix with density about 1.7x10¹⁶/cm³. They are originated from the precipitation of native point defects in Te-rich PbTe which occured in the cooling and annealing process and presented in the form of plates consisting of Te anti-site atoms or interstitial Te atoms.