High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction Studies on MBE-Grown p-ZnTe/n-CdTe Heterojunctions for Solar Cell Applications

High-resolution X-ray diffractometer was used to study structural quality, lattice parameters and misfit strain in p-ZnTe/n-CdTe heterojunctions grown by the molecular-beam epitaxy technique on two different (001)-oriented substrates of GaAs and CdTe. The X-ray diffractometer results indicate that the CdTe layers, grown on lattice mismatched GaAs substrate, are partially relaxed, by the formation of misfit dislocations at the interface, and display residual vertical strain of the order of $10^{-4}$. The presence of threading dislocations in the layers effectively limits the efficiency of solar energy conversion in the investigated heterojunctions. Homoepitaxially grown CdTe layers, of much better structural quality, display unexpected compressive strain in the layers and the relaxed lattice parameter larger than that of the substrate. Possible reasons for the formation of that unusual strain are discussed.