Enhanced growth of highly lattice-mismatched CdSe on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

► Zinc-blende CdSe epilayers were grown on GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. ► Surface diffusion of Cd atoms was enhanced by introducing a small amount of Te atoms. ► The improvements in structural quality and optical properties were found. This work demonstrates the improvement of the molecular beam epitaxial growth of zinc-blende CdSe on (001) GaAs substrate with a large lattice mismatch by introducing a small amount of Te atoms. Exposing the growing surface to Te atoms changes the reflection high-energy electron diffraction pattern from spotty to streaky together with (2×1) surface reconstruction, and greatly reduces the full width at half maximum of the X-ray rocking curve and increases the integral intensity of room-temperature photoluminescence by a factor of about nine.