AN OBSERVATION OF NANOTWIN LAMELLAE IN CD0.6MN0.4TE CRYSTAL BY ATOMICFORCE MICROSCOPY

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to examine the structure of fres hly cleaved Cd0.6Mn0.4Te surfaces. The present report complements prev ious results obtained with X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy wh ich showed the existence of microtwins. The AFM analysis was performed under ambient conditions and yielded nanometer scale resolution image s of single twin lamellae that ranged between 20 and 100 nm in width. This is a first observation using AFM of such a subStructure, which we interpret as evidence for the presence of nanotwins.