In situ STM study of CdTe ECALE bilayers on gold

Research was conducted to examine the epitaxial growth of CdTe bilayers electrodeposited onto Au single-crystal surfaces using in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. Alternate reductive underpotential deposition (UPD) of Cd and Te and the electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy method were used to generate the films. Results indicate that the growth of the bilayer is dominated by the requirement to achieve stoichiometry and the initial coverage of the Te UPD layer is of overriding importance during the initial growth phase.