Roughness of CdTe thin films grown on glass by hot wall epitaxy

Cadmium telluride films were grown on glass substrates using the hot wall epitaxy (HWE) technique. The samples were polycrystalline with a preferential (111) orientation. Scanning electron micrographs reveal a grain size between 0.1 and 0.5 µm. The surface morphology of the samples was studied by measuring the roughness profile using a stylus profiler. The roughness as a function of growth time and scale size were investigated to determine the growth and roughness exponents, β and α, respectively. From the results we can conclude that the growth surface has a self-affine character with a roughness exponent α equal to 0.69 ± 0.03 and almost independent of growth time. The growth exponent β was equal to 0.38 ± 0.06. These values agree with that determined previously for CdTe(111) films grown on GaAs(100).