Cadmium telluride is used to make thin film solar cells. It can be alloyed with mercury to make a versatile infrared detector material (HgCdTe). It is used as an infrared optical material for optical windows and lenses and is proven to provide a good performance across a wide range of temperatures. It is also applied for electro-optic modulators and has the greatest electro-optic coefficient of the linear electro-optic effect among II-VI compound crystals. It can be doped with chlorine, which is used as a radiation detector for x-rays, gamma rays, beta particles and alpha particles.

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