REFLECTION HIGH-ENERGY ELECTRON-DIFFRACTION MEASUREMENT OF LATTICE-PARAMETER OSCILLATIONS DURING THE HOMOEPITAXIAL GROWTH OF CDTE

An oscillatory behavior of the in-plane lattice parameter of the surfa ce during the two-dimensional homoepitaxial growth of CdTe(001) has be en demonstrated from reflection high-energy electron diffraction measu rements. It is attributed to a deformation, induced by the surface rec onstructions, of the free edges of the small islands formed during the growth by molecular-beam epitaxy or atomic layer epitaxy. An anisotro pic relaxation of the lattice parameter is observed when the growing s urface is Cd-stabilized. On the contrary, an isotropic relaxation is o btained when the growth takes place under Te-stabilized conditions. In creasing the temperature leads to a decrease of the relaxation process , as expected from the higher mobility of the atoms and thus the large r size of the islands.