Epilayers of (111)A-type CdTe were grown directly onto (111) Si substrates, at a growth rate of less than 0.5/h, by means of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The full-width at half-maximum of the X-ray rocking curve of a 1-thick epilayer was equal to 100arcsec. This was much better than the value for (111)B CdTe on (100) Si. Low growth-rate effects were deduced from classical capillarity theory. The nucleation stages were studied by means of atomic force microscopy. This showed that the nuclei were fewer in number during growth at a low rate. The geometrical advantages of (111)A CdTe/(111)Si for the annihilation of dislocations were considered. Misfit dislocations on the slip plane parallel to the hetero-interface would be of -type for (111)A CdTe/(111)Si, and would be of -type for (111)B; due to the geometrical structure. In general, -type misfit dislocations were generated more readily than were -type dislocations in a zincblende structure. In the case of a (111)B-type structure, -type misfit dislocations on a slip plane that met the hetero-interface at angles of 70.5 would be generated instead of -type dislocations; in order to relieve misfit. This suggested that the misfit dislocations which climbed up along the slip plane were larger in number in (111)B than in (111)A. The dislocations annihilated, by uniting with each other, at an earlier stage in (111)A. This argument was applicable to the misoriented interface because any misorientation was very small in comparison with 70.5.

H.Ebe, Y.Nishijima: Applied Physics Letters, 1995, 67[21], 3138-40