Lattice-matched heteroepitaxial preparation of InSb/CdTe on Si (111) substrate by magnetron sputtering

InSb films were deposited on Si (111) substrate using the CdTe buffer layers by magnetron sputtering. The effects of CdTe buffer layers on the crystal structure, morphological optical and electrical properties of InSb films were studied. The study found that the CdTe buffer layer can improve the grain size and reduce the stress of InSb films. Compared with direct growth on Si substrate, the use of the CdTe buffer layer can effectively control the appearance of dislocations at the interface and thus improve the epitaxial quality of InSb films. Furthermore, the surface roughness and carrier mobility of the InSb film depends on the CdTe buffer layer thickness, which is mainly caused by the difference in surface morphology of the buffer layer with different thicknesses. InSb/CdTe structure shows the advantages of lattice-matched heteroepitaxial growth, indicating that CdTe is an effective buffer layer to improve the performance of InSb. The insertion of a buffer layer provides a promising method for the preparation of III-V/II-VI hybrid system on a Si substrate, which can be used for high-performance infrared detectors.