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Cadmium telluride (CdTe) and its ternary and quaternary compounds have found applications in the development of X-ray and gamma-ray detectors used in nuclear detection and medical imaging applications. Example of these detectors include CdZnTe (CZT), CdMnTe (CMT), and CdZnTeSe (CZTS). These nuclear detectors can operate at room temperature without cryogenic cooling. This paper presents comparative studies of these semiconductor material. The properties studied include detector resistivity, Te inclusions, grain boundary networks, mobility/lifetime of the charge carriers, and energy resolution. The effects of passivation with chemicals such as KOH and NH4F, are also presented. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies showed increase in the quantity of TeO2 on surfaces of these materials after passivation in KOH and NH4F. While CZT detector has wide commercial availability, it has more Te inclusions and grain boundary network compared to CZTS. CMT and CZTS have better crystal uniformity than CZT. The comparatively low presence of Te inclusions and grain boundary network in CZTS gives it a higher crystal growth yield for detector-grade material.