II-VI semiconductor compounds are compounds composed of a metal from either group 2 or 12 of the periodic table (the alkaline earth metals and group 12 elements, formerly called groups IIA and IIB) and a nonmetal from group 16 (the chalcogens, formerly called group VI). These semiconductors crystallize either in the zincblende lattice structure or the wurtzite crystal structure.[1] They generally exhibit large band gaps, making them popular for short wavelength applications in optoelectronics.