CADMIUM TELLURIDE THIN-FILMS ON SILICON SUBSTRATES

We report here the epitaxial growth of CdTe films on silicon substrates by the use of a closed hot wall epitaxy (CHWE) system. Deposition parameters were varied in order to determine the growth condition for obtaining good quality CdTe films. The characteristics of the films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. Experimental data show that no film grows when the source temperature is below 450-degrees-C. The film growth changes linearly with source temperature at a rate of 0.0252 angstrom s-1-degrees-C-1, and the best film was grown at a source temperature of 475-degrees-C. We found that the lattice constant of our CdTe films is 6.487 +/- 0.004 angstrom.