The initial stages in the growth of highly strained ZnTe on (001)CdTe were studied by means of reflection high-energy electron diffraction, with real-time monitoring of the surface in-plane lattice spacing and of the width of the streaks along the [100], [110] and [1¯10] azimuths. A large oscillating elastic relaxation was measured, below the critical thickness of about 5 ZnTe monolayers, in the [1¯10] azimuth. A small excess of tensile stress, with respect to the CdTe substrate, was observed in the [110] azimuth. These effects were attributed to an anisotropic non-tetragonal elastic distortion in the free edges of elongated 2-dimensional ZnTe monolayer islands. After long deposition times (to above the critical thickness), reflection high-energy electron diffractometry revealed detailed information concerning the nature of the dislocations which occurred in the multiplication process.

J.Eymery, B.Daudin, D.Brun-Le Cunff, N.Boudet. S.Tatarenko: Applied Physics Letters, 1995, 66[25], 3456-8