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Cadmium Compounds
   Cadmium sulfide
   Cadmium zinc telluride
Cadmium sulfide CdS
Synthetic cadmium pigments based on cadmium sulfide are valued for their good thermal stability in many polymers, for example in engineering plastics. By adding selenium in its formula its possible to obtain colours ranging from a greenish yellow to red violet pigment.
It has useful properties for optoelectronics, being used in both photosensitive and photovoltaic devices. One simple use is as a photoresistor whose electrical resistance changes with incident light levels. Mixed with zinc sulfide, cadmium sulfide acts as a phosphor with long afterglow.
Cadmium zinc telluride CdZnTe
A wide, direct bandgap semiconductor, it is used in a variety of applications, including radiation detectors, photorefractive gratings, electro-optic modulators and terahertz generation and detection. Cadmium zinc telluride is highly toxic to humans. It should not be ingested, nor its dust inhaled, and it should not be handled without appropriate gloves.