Native oxide formation on CdTe

We report studies of the chemical bonding of Cd and Te atoms to O atoms in air grown native oxides of CdTe. We find that the oxide grown in laboratory air on CdTe{100} surfaces: (i) always contains both Te–O and Cd–O bonds which we have detected, respectively, by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray Auger electron spectroscopy, and (ii) is soluble in deionized water. Based on these two observations and comparisons with the results of previous studies of native oxide formation of both CdTe and (Cd,Hg)Te, we conclude that the CdTe air grown native oxide is a compound oxide of the form CdxTeyOx, probably CdTeO3, and not a mixture of the elemental oxides, CdO and TeO2.