Scanning tunnelling microscopy is used to study the growth mechanisms of CdTe(1 0 0) in molecular beam epitaxy. The 2D growth proceeds by the formation of square-shaped islands with (1 0 0) edges. This effect leads to the self-organisation of terraces for vicinal surfaces with (1 0 0) steps. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.