SHORT-PERIOD CDTE-ZNTE AND CDTE-MNTE SUPERLATTICES

CdTe-ZnTe superlattices (SLs) with a period ranging from 13 to 3 8 A have been grown by atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) on (001) GaAs substrates. In a substrate temperature range between 270-degrees-C and 290-degrees-C the growth rate for both CdTe and ZnTe regulated itself to exactly 0.5 monolayers per reaction cycle, allowing the growth of very precisely tailored structures. For lower substrate temperatures the growth rate increased to approximately 0.8 monolayers per cycle, but did not reach 1 monolayer per cycle before ZnTe started to grow polycrystalline. Using the ALE growth parameters for CdTe, SLs of CdTe with metastable cubic MnTe were prepared. The superlattices were characterized by high resolution X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence. The X-ray data show that the SLs exhibit excellent period constancy and smooth interfaces.