Observation of macro-terraces in cadmium telluride thin films

CdTe thin films (prepared on a Corning glass substrate by a modification of the close-space vapour transport technique) were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The conclusion of the study is that the films are formed by large microcrystals with very flat surfaces. The roughness measurements show that the surfaces of the microcrystals are flatter than CdTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on CdTe substrates. The terraces were almost atomically flat with sizes up to 0.2 μm2. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.