Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
105 words
A method of p-type doping a substrate formed from a combination of at least one Group II material selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cd, Hg and Mg and a Group VI material selected from the group consisting of S, Se and Te, comprising: forming a flux from a combination of Group II and Group V materials, the Group II material being selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cd, Hg and Mg and the Group V material being selected from the group consisting of As, Sb and P, and applying said flux to the substrate at a pressure less than about 10⁻⁶ atmosphere.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
105 words
A method of p-type doping a substrate formed from a combination of at least one Group II material selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cd, Hg and Mg and a Group VI material selected from the group consisting of S, Se and Te, comprising: forming a flux from a combination of Group II and Group V materials, the Group II material being selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cd, Hg and Mg and the Group V material being selected from the group consisting of As, Sb and P, and applying said flux to the substrate at a pressure less than about 10⁻⁶ atmosphere.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said combination of Group II and Group V materials is provided as a compound having the formulation X₃Y₂, where X is the Group II material and Y is the Group V material.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
30 words
The method of claims 1 or 2, further comprising the step of controlling the temperature of said combination of Group II and Group V materials to control the doping concentration.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
21 words
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the substrate comprises HgCd combined with one of said Group V materials.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 4, wherein the combined proportion of Hg and Cd in the flux compound is substantially equal to the proportion of Te, the relative proportion of Hg is in the range 0 to 1, and the relative proportion of Cd is in the range 1 to 0.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
40 words
The method of any of the preceding claims wherein a layer of optical material is grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and said flux is applied to the layer of optical material simultaneously with the MBE growth of said layer.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
128 words
The method of any of the preceding claims wherein a p-n junction device is formed by: a) forming an n-doped layer of the device material, and b) forming a p-doped layer of the device material adjacent to said n-doped layer by: i) growing a layer of the device material by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), ii) forming a flux from a combination of Group II and Group V materials, the Group II material being selected from the group consisting of Zn, Cd, Hg and Mg and the Group V material being selected from the group consisting of As, Sb and P, and iii) applying said flux to said layer of device material simultaneously with the MBE growth of said layer, said n-doped and p-doped layers meeting at the junction.