Viscosity Relaxation in Molten HgZnTe

Because of its narrow electronic band-gap, HgZnTe solid solutions have been proposed as effective detectors for infrared radiation. To produce the best single crystals of these materials for this application, knowledge of the phase diagram that governs the freezing of the liquid is essential. Besides the phase diagram, however, some information concerning the thermophysical properties of the melt, such as viscosity, density, specific heat, and enthalpy of mixing, can also be useful. Of these thermophysical properties, the viscosity is perhaps of the most interest scientifically. Measurements using the oscillating cup method have shown that the isothermal melt requires tens of hours of equilibration time before a steady value of the viscosity can be achieved. Over this equilibration time, which depends upon temperature, the viscosity can increase by as much as a factor of two before reaching a steady state. We suggest that this relaxation phenomenon may be due to a slight polymerization of Te atoms in the melt.