Skip to Main Content

The University of Tennessee

STAIR

Frequently Used Tools:



Materials Structure Interactive Gallery


Main Navigation:

Melting of CdTe

Daniel Rutstrom
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee

CdTe is a semiconductor material that is often utilized in radiation detection applications. It adopts the zincblende crystal structure (space group F-43m) and has a lattice parameter of a = 6.478 angstroms. The main drawback of CdTe is that obtaining large volume defect-free single crystals using traditional melt-growth techniques has proven to be difficult. A better understanding of the melt behavior of CdTe, specifically at the solid-liquid interface, could lead to improvements in the growth and is therefore of interest. In this work, coexistence of the liquid and solid phases of CdTe was investigated and was used to determine an approximate melting point of 1300 K. Future work could involve investigating the growth velocity as a function of undercooling.

CdTe - Solidification of Liquid Region

Interactive Structures


Color Legend:

  • blue = cadmium
  • red = tellurium

References

1. J. R. Morris et al. "Melting line of aluminum from simulations of coexisting phases" Physical Review B, 49, (1994) 2. Y. J. Lu "Crystal growth velocity in deeply undercooled Ni-Si alloys" Philosophical Magazine Letters, 92, (2012) 3. C. Henager Jr. and J. R. Morris, "Atomistic simulation of CdTe solid-liquid coexistence equilibria" Physical Review B, 80, (2009) 4. Wang, Stroud and Markworth, "Monte Carlo study of the liquid CdTe surface" Physical Review B, 40, 3129 (1989)

posted: April 2020.
updated: April 2020.