A new method for epitaxial growth of cadmium sulfide (CdS) films in the metastable cubic phase by atomic-layer deposition on silicon substrates with a buffer layer of epitaxial silicon carbide has been developed. The growth of this CdS phase is provided by the low growth temperature (~180°C). The cubic phase was identified both by X-ray diffraction analysis and by spectral ellipsometry because the main peak of light absorption by CdS is split into two peaks, at 4.9 and 5.4 eV, in the hexagonal phase and is unsplit (degenerate) at 5.1 eV in the cubic phase.