The extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) has been measured at both the K edges of cadmium and tellurium in CdTe, from liquid helium to room temperature, in order to investigate the local thermodynamic behaviour. The temperature dependences of the structural parameters obtained from the separate analysis of the two edges are perfectly consistent. The positive contribution to the thermal expansion due to the bond stretching and the negative contribution due to the tension effects are disentangled and quantified in terms of the bond thermal expansion and the perpendicular mean square relative displacement. The comparison with previous EXAFS results for Ge and CuCl shows that relevant correlations can be established between a number of local parameters measured by means of EXAFS and the properties of the lattice negative thermal expansion of tetrahedrally bonded semiconductors. The effective force constants derived from the EXAFS are compared with the force constants of a valence force field model.

The evaluation of uncertainty in temperature-dependent EXAFS measurements is discussed, considering the specific case of a recent experiment performed on CdTe. EXAFS at both Cd and Te K-edges was measured at different times and at different beamlines in a temperature range from 5 to 300 K. Attention is focused on the nearest-neighbours parameters: bond thermal expansion, parallel and perpendicular mean-square relative displacements and the third cumulant. Different causes of uncertainty, a comparison of experimental results with theoretical models, the difference between EXAFS and crystallographic thermal expansions and the meaning of the third cumulant are discussed.

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