A study was made of the surface reconstruction and chemical composition of the uppermost atomic layer of thick or thin (001)CdTe layers which had been grown onto (001)CdTe or ZnTe by using molecular beam epitaxial techniques. All of the surfaces which were obtained at temperatures ranging from 220 to 300C were Cd-covered with some 50% of non-dimerized Cd atoms. The surfaces could be 2 x 1, c(2 x 2) or (2 x 1) + c(2 x 2) reconstructed. Heating these surfaces at above 300C produced a 2 x 1 Te-stabilized surface. A reversible transition occurred between the latter surface and the mixed (2 x 1) + c(2 x 2) structure. Thermal cycling between these 2 types of reconstructed surface led to the evaporation of half of a monolayer per cycle.

S.Tatarenko, F.Bassani, J.C.Klein, K.Saminadayar, J.Cibert, V.H.Etgens: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, 1994, 12[1], 140-7