The dewetting technique, based on the application of a gas pressure in order to prevent crystal crucible contact during Bridgman growth, has been applied to the growth of CdTe. After optimization of the set up and growth parameters, two CdTe single crystals, 14 mm in diameter and 50 mm in length, have been obtained, the first one from a twinned seed and the other one from a polycrystalline seed. These results show that the dewetting technique has a great potential for the growth of II-VI single crystals. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.