The dynamics of growth of CdTe by molecular beam epitaxy is studied by RHEED intensity oscillations. The transition to growth by step propagation is observed at lower temperature (i.e., the diffusion length is larger) on the Te‐rich (2×1) surface than on the Cd‐richc(2×2)–(2×1) one. A strong anisotropy is found, which suggests that growth islands are elongated in the [11¯0] direction. In addition, sublimation cannot be neglected, with at least two mechanisms with different activation energies. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.