Undoped and Ge-doped CdTe crystals have been grown using the dewetting phenomenon on the earth. A gap effected by the dewetting between the crystal and ampoule was created with a thickness up to 60 mum, but it was not stable for the complete growth process. The dewetting was stable for the first 25 mm of the growth, but than it got unstable. The main deteriorating factor was a change of a liquid-solid interface shape from the convex to concave. Structural, electrical, photoelectrical and optical characteristics of the studied samples showed better material quality in dewetted areas. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.