Optical constants

Refractive index of CdTe (Cadmium telluride)

DeBell et al. 1979: n 6–22 µm; 300 K

Data: formula 2
Range: 6–22 µm
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 2.66827
Extinction coefficient k: 0

Permittivity ε₁: 7.11966
Permittivity ε₂: 0

Absorption coefficient α: 0 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): — nm

Abbe number V_d: —
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -0.00292298 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 2.70188
Group velocity dispersion: -615.657 fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: 8.76887 ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy: 0.107812 eV

ε = (n + ik)², α = 4πk/λ, n_g = n − λ dn/dλ, GVD = λ³/(2πc²) d²n/dλ², D = −(λ/c) d²n/dλ². Group-velocity dispersion is given for formula data only.

Use it in Lightsmith

Load this data in Python, simulate in one more line

pip install lightsmith

import lightsmith as ls

# CdTe (Cadmium telluride): DeBell et al. 1979: n 6–22 µm; 300 K
cdte = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "CdTe", "DeBell-300K", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(cdte.range_nm)  # (6000, 22000) nm
eps = cdte.eps([11500])  # complex permittivity

Downloads the original record once (pinned to the imported snapshot) and caches it.

import json, urllib.request
import lightsmith as ls

url = "https://materials.lightsmith.dev/v1/datasets/ds_dbbc28763591/lightsmith"
cdte = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(cdte.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (cdte/debell-1979-300k).

# ... load cdte as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=cdte)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=6000, stop_nm=22000, num=81),
)
res = ls.solve(sim)  # exact Mie for a sphere
print(res.q_ext)     # extinction efficiency at each wavelength

Same spec runs with DDA, FDTD, BEM or T-matrix: ls.compare(sim, ["mie", "dda"]).

import json, urllib.request
import lightsmith as ls

url = "https://materials.lightsmith.dev/v1/datasets/ds_dbbc28763591/lightsmith?model=drude_lorentz"
cdte_dl = ls.DrudeLorentz.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))

A dispersive Drude–Lorentz model for time-domain solvers.

Materials guide Open a sphere of it in Studio Quick start Ask the community

Lightsmith is open source (MIT): Mie, T-matrix, BEM, DDA, FDTD, RCWA, TMM, mode solvers and inverse design behind one spec, on CPU or GPU. GitHub.

Dispersion formula

Sellmeier (C in µm²) (formula 2), λ in µm

n^{2} - 1 = \frac{6.1977889 λ^{2}}{λ^{2} - 0.1005326} + \frac{3.2243821 λ^{2}}{λ^{2} - 5279.518}

Valid from 6.0 to 22.0 µm.

Coefficients as stored

C_i	Value
C1	0.0
C2	6.1977889
C3	0.1005326
C4	3.2243821
C5	5279.518

Comments and conditions

300 K (26.85 °C)

References

A. G. DeBell, E. L. Dereniak, J. Harvey, J. Nissley, J. Palmer, A. Selvarajan, W. L. Wolfe. Cryogenic refractive indices and temperature coefficients of cadmium telluride from 6 µm to 22 µm. Appl. Opt. 18, 3114-3115 (1979)

doi:10.1364/ao.18.003114 Cryogenic refractive indices and temperature coefficients of cadmium telluride from 6 μm to 22 μm, Applied Optics (1979)

Cite

A. G. DeBell et al.. Cryogenic refractive indices and temperature coefficients of cadmium telluride from 6 μm to 22 μm. Applied Optics, 18, 3114 (1979), doi:10.1364/ao.18.003114; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

Computed on 400 wavelengths, the same grid as the API and the library

CSV comma separated TXT tab separated YAML n, k Full database record original YAML All quantities CSV JSON metadata

CdTe (Cadmium telluride), DeBell et al. 1979: n 6–22 µm; 300 K: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n
6	2.681978
6.01957	2.68193
6.0392	2.681882
6.0589	2.681834
6.07866	2.681785
6.09849	2.681737
6.11838	2.681688
6.13834	2.68164
6.15836	2.681591
6.17844	2.681543
6.1986	2.681494
6.21881	2.681445
6.2391	2.681396
6.25945	2.681348
6.27986	2.681299
6.30035	2.68125
6.3209	2.6812
6.34151	2.681151
6.3622	2.681102
6.38295	2.681053
6.40377	2.681003
6.42465	2.680954
6.44561	2.680904
6.46663	2.680855
6.48772	2.680805
6.50889	2.680755
6.53011	2.680705
6.55141	2.680655
6.57278	2.680605
6.59422	2.680555
6.61573	2.680504
6.63731	2.680454
6.65896	2.680403
6.68067	2.680353
6.70246	2.680302
6.72433	2.680251
6.74626	2.6802
6.76826	2.680149
6.79034	2.680098
6.81249	2.680046
6.83471	2.679995
6.857	2.679943
6.87936	2.679891
6.9018	2.67984
6.92431	2.679787
6.9469	2.679735
6.96956	2.679683
6.99229	2.679631
7.01509	2.679578
7.03798	2.679525
7.06093	2.679472
7.08396	2.679419
7.10707	2.679366
7.13025	2.679313
7.1535	2.679259
7.17684	2.679206
7.20024	2.679152
7.22373	2.679098
7.24729	2.679044
7.27093	2.678989
7.29464	2.678935
7.31844	2.67888
7.34231	2.678825
7.36625	2.67877
7.39028	2.678715
7.41439	2.678659
7.43857	2.678604
7.46283	2.678548
7.48717	2.678492
7.51159	2.678436
7.53609	2.67838
7.56067	2.678323
7.58533	2.678266
7.61007	2.678209
7.6349	2.678152
7.6598	2.678095
7.68478	2.678037
7.70985	2.677979
7.73499	2.677921
7.76022	2.677863
7.78553	2.677804
7.81093	2.677746
7.8364	2.677687
7.86196	2.677627
7.88761	2.677568
7.91333	2.677508
7.93914	2.677448
7.96504	2.677388
7.99102	2.677328
8.01708	2.677267
8.04323	2.677206
8.06946	2.677145
8.09578	2.677084
8.12219	2.677022
8.14868	2.67696
8.17526	2.676898
8.20193	2.676836
8.22868	2.676773
8.25552	2.67671
8.28244	2.676647
8.30946	2.676583
8.33656	2.676519
8.36375	2.676455
8.39103	2.676391
8.4184	2.676326
8.44586	2.676261
8.4734	2.676196
8.50104	2.67613
8.52877	2.676065
8.55659	2.675998
8.5845	2.675932
8.6125	2.675865
8.64059	2.675798
8.66877	2.67573
8.69704	2.675663
8.72541	2.675595
8.75387	2.675526
8.78242	2.675457
8.81107	2.675388
8.83981	2.675319
8.86864	2.675249
8.89756	2.675179
8.92659	2.675109
8.9557	2.675038
8.98491	2.674967
9.01422	2.674895
9.04362	2.674823
9.07312	2.674751
9.10271	2.674679
9.1324	2.674606
9.16219	2.674532
9.19207	2.674459
9.22205	2.674385
9.25213	2.67431
9.28231	2.674235
9.31258	2.67416
9.34296	2.674084
9.37343	2.674008
9.404	2.673932
9.43468	2.673855
9.46545	2.673778
9.49632	2.6737
9.5273	2.673622
9.55837	2.673544
9.58955	2.673465
9.62082	2.673385
9.6522	2.673306
9.68369	2.673225
9.71527	2.673145
9.74696	2.673064
9.77875	2.672982
9.81065	2.6729
9.84264	2.672818
9.87475	2.672735
9.90696	2.672652
9.93927	2.672568
9.97169	2.672483
10.0042	2.672399
10.0368	2.672313
10.0696	2.672228
10.1024	2.672142
10.1354	2.672055
10.1684	2.671968
10.2016	2.67188
10.2349	2.671792
10.2683	2.671703
10.3017	2.671614
10.3353	2.671524
10.3691	2.671434
10.4029	2.671343
10.4368	2.671252
10.4708	2.67116
10.505	2.671068
10.5393	2.670975
10.5736	2.670882
10.6081	2.670788
10.6427	2.670693
10.6774	2.670598
10.7123	2.670502
10.7472	2.670406
10.7823	2.670309
10.8174	2.670212
10.8527	2.670114
10.8881	2.670016
10.9236	2.669916
10.9593	2.669817
10.995	2.669716
11.0309	2.669615
11.0668	2.669514
11.1029	2.669412
11.1391	2.669309
11.1755	2.669206
11.2119	2.669102
11.2485	2.668997
11.2852	2.668892
11.322	2.668786
11.3589	2.668679
11.396	2.668572
11.4331	2.668464
11.4704	2.668355
11.5078	2.668246
11.5454	2.668136
11.583	2.668025
11.6208	2.667914
11.6587	2.667802
11.6967	2.667689
11.7349	2.667576
11.7732	2.667462
11.8116	2.667347
11.8501	2.667231
11.8888	2.667115
11.9275	2.666998
11.9664	2.66688
12.0055	2.666762
12.0446	2.666643
12.0839	2.666523
12.1233	2.666402
12.1629	2.66628
12.2025	2.666158
12.2423	2.666035
12.2823	2.665911
12.3223	2.665786
12.3625	2.665661
12.4028	2.665534
12.4433	2.665407
12.4839	2.665279
12.5246	2.66515
12.5654	2.665021
12.6064	2.66489
12.6475	2.664759
12.6888	2.664627
12.7302	2.664494
12.7717	2.66436
12.8134	2.664225
12.8552	2.66409
12.8971	2.663953
12.9392	2.663816
12.9814	2.663677
13.0237	2.663538
13.0662	2.663398
13.1088	2.663257
13.1515	2.663115
13.1944	2.662972
13.2375	2.662828
13.2807	2.662683
13.324	2.662537
13.3674	2.662391
13.411	2.662243
13.4548	2.662094
13.4987	2.661944
13.5427	2.661794
13.5869	2.661642
13.6312	2.661489
13.6756	2.661335
13.7202	2.661181
13.765	2.661025
13.8099	2.660868
13.8549	2.66071
13.9001	2.660551
13.9455	2.660391
13.9909	2.66023
14.0366	2.660067
14.0824	2.659904
14.1283	2.659739
14.1744	2.659574
14.2206	2.659407
14.267	2.659239
14.3135	2.65907
14.3602	2.6589
14.407	2.658729
14.454	2.658556
14.5012	2.658383
14.5485	2.658208
14.5959	2.658032
14.6435	2.657854
14.6913	2.657676
14.7392	2.657496
14.7873	2.657315
14.8355	2.657133
14.8839	2.65695
14.9325	2.656765
14.9812	2.656579
15.03	2.656391
15.079	2.656203
15.1282	2.656013
15.1776	2.655822
15.2271	2.655629
15.2767	2.655435
15.3266	2.65524
15.3766	2.655043
15.4267	2.654845
15.477	2.654646
15.5275	2.654445
15.5782	2.654243
15.629	2.654039
15.6799	2.653834
15.7311	2.653627
15.7824	2.653419
15.8339	2.65321
15.8855	2.652999
15.9373	2.652787
15.9893	2.652573
16.0415	2.652357
16.0938	2.65214
16.1463	2.651922
16.1989	2.651702
16.2518	2.65148
16.3048	2.651257
16.358	2.651032
16.4113	2.650806
16.4648	2.650578
16.5185	2.650348
16.5724	2.650117
16.6265	2.649884
16.6807	2.649649
16.7351	2.649413
16.7897	2.649175
16.8445	2.648935
16.8994	2.648694
16.9545	2.64845
17.0098	2.648205
17.0653	2.647959
17.121	2.64771
17.1768	2.64746
17.2328	2.647208
17.289	2.646954
17.3454	2.646698
17.402	2.64644
17.4588	2.64618
17.5157	2.645919
17.5728	2.645656
17.6302	2.64539
17.6877	2.645123
17.7453	2.644854
17.8032	2.644583
17.8613	2.644309
17.9196	2.644034
17.978	2.643757
18.0366	2.643478
18.0955	2.643196
18.1545	2.642913
18.2137	2.642627
18.2731	2.64234
18.3327	2.64205
18.3925	2.641758
18.4525	2.641464
18.5127	2.641168
18.5731	2.640869
18.6336	2.640568
18.6944	2.640265
18.7554	2.63996
18.8166	2.639653
18.8779	2.639343
18.9395	2.639031
19.0013	2.638716
19.0633	2.638399
19.1254	2.63808
19.1878	2.637759
19.2504	2.637434
19.3132	2.637108
19.3762	2.636779
19.4394	2.636447
19.5028	2.636113
19.5664	2.635777
19.6302	2.635438
19.6942	2.635096
19.7585	2.634752
19.8229	2.634405
19.8876	2.634055
19.9525	2.633703
20.0175	2.633348
20.0828	2.632991
20.1483	2.63263
20.214	2.632267
20.28	2.631901
20.3461	2.631532
20.4125	2.631161
20.4791	2.630786
20.5459	2.630409
20.6129	2.630028
20.6801	2.629645
20.7476	2.629259
20.8152	2.628869
20.8831	2.628477
20.9512	2.628082
21.0196	2.627683
21.0881	2.627282
21.1569	2.626877
21.2259	2.626469
21.2951	2.626058
21.3646	2.625644
21.4343	2.625226
21.5042	2.624805
21.5743	2.624381
21.6447	2.623953
21.7153	2.623523
21.7861	2.623088
21.8572	2.62265
21.9285	2.622209
22	2.621764

Optical transmission calculator

Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence

Transmittance T: —
Reflectance R: —

Fresnel reflection calculator

R_p: —
R_s: —
R = (R_p+R_s)/2: —
Phase φ_p: —
Phase φ_s: —
Brewster angle θ_B: —
Critical angle θ_C: —

CdTe (Cadmium telluride): all datasets

Experimental data

Models and simulations

Adachi et al. 1993: n,k 0.221–1.13 µm n,k 0.2214–1.127 µm

About CdTe (Cadmium telluride)

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is an inorganic compound that typically crystallizes in a cubic zincblende structure. It is a direct bandgap semiconductor with a bandgap energy of approximately 1.5 eV, making it highly suitable for photovoltaic applications, especially thin-film solar cells. CdTe solar cells are commercially significant due to their lower manufacturing costs and competitive efficiency levels compared to silicon-based cells. Besides photovoltaics, CdTe is also employed in infrared detectors, radiation detectors, and electro-optic modulators. However, the presence of cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, calls for stringent handling and disposal protocols and has prompted research into recycling methods. Synthesis methods for CdTe include physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and close-spaced sublimation, among others, each offering unique advantages in terms of film quality and manufacturing scalability. Despite the environmental concerns related to its toxicity, CdTe remains a highly relevant material in renewable energy technologies and continues to attract research efforts aimed at mitigating its environmental impact.

Cadmium telluride - Wikipedia

More about CdTe (Cadmium telluride) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/main/CdTe/nk/DeBell-300K.yml
ID: ds_dbbc28763591
API: /v1/datasets/ds_dbbc28763591

Plot