Direct molecular-beam epitaxial growth of ZnTe(100) and CdZnTe(100)/ZnTe(100) on Si(100) substrates

Epitaxial structures of ZnTe(100) and CdZnTe(100)/ZnTe(100) have been deposited by molecular-beam epitaxy onto Si(100) substrates misoriented from 0° to 8° towards the [011] direction. The films were characterized with x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and stylus profilometry. Single-crystal CdZnTe(100) films comparable in structural quality to those obtained with growth on GaAs/Si composite substrates have been demonstrated on both 4° and 8° misoriented Si with the use of ZnTe buffer layers. X-ray rocking curves with FWHM less than 300 arcsec for ZnTe (400) and less than 160 arcsec for CdZnTe(400) have been obtained for as-grown films. Specular surface morphologies, superior to those obtained on GaAs/Si composite substrates, are also observed.