Temperature dependencies of photoluminescence (PL) spectra were investigated on thin single quantum wells (SQWs) of CdTe embedded in ZnTe barrier layer. Four types of SQWs were prepared by hot-wall epitaxy with nominal well thickness of 2, 3, 3.5 and 4 monolayers (MLs). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigation on uncapped CdTe layers revealed that the surface of CdTe layers were covered with self-organized cone like shaped dots (SQDs). The PL spectra measured at 4.2 K was composed of two adjoining emission bands. It was clarified that the higher energy PL bands originated from the exciton recombinations in a CdTe wetting layer while the lower energy one originated from the recombination in the SQDs of Me. Two thermal activation energies in the energy-integrated PL intensity are determined. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.