We propose the use of heavily impurity-doped Pb1-xSnxTe/PbTe epitaxial layers grown via the temperature difference method under controlled vapor pressure (TDM-CVP) liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) for the preparation of IV-VI compounds for mid-to far-infrared optical device applications. A flat surface morphology and the distribution of a constant Sn concentration for 0.05 <= x <= 0.33 were observed in the epitaxial layers using electron-probe microanalysis. The segregation coefficient of Sn in Pb1-xSnxTe grown via TDM-CVP LPE (Tg = 640 degrees C) was x(sn)(s)/x(sn)(L) = 0.28. The appearance of the Fermi level pinning and persistent photoconductivity effects in In-doped PbSnTe were also proposed; we estimated that the activation energies of these processes were 2.8 and 39.7 meV, respectively, based on the In-doped Pb1-xSnxTe carrier profile as a function of ambient temperature. In Hall mobility measurements, Sn was assumed to be a main scattering center in the Pb1-xSnxTe epitaxial crystals. The impurity effect was also observed in Pb1-xSnxTe epitaxial growth, similar to the effects observed for Tl-doped PbTe bulk crystals. We concluded that the heavily doped Pb1-xSnxTe crystals grown via TDM-CVP LPE can be used to fabricate high-performance mid-to far-infrared optical devices. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.