Control of microtwins in MOCVD of CdTe on sapphire

Abstract

Microtwins in epitaxial (111)Te-face CdTe films grown by MOCVD on (0001) sapphire substrates can be detected by optical reflection from the as-grown surface, which is microscopically facetted, as well as by X-ray diffraction. Microtwin content can be made very small, much less than 1% volume fraction, by proper choice of MOCVD reactor operating conditions. Annealing after completion of the CdTe deposition can remove the microtwins. © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.