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Influence of Static Atomic Displacements on Composition Quantification of AlGaN/GaN Heterostructures from HAADF-STEM Images

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2014

Marco Schowalter ,
Ingo Stoffers ,
Florian F. Krause ,
Thorsten Mehrtens ,
Knut Müller ,
Malte Fandrich ,
Timo Aschenbrenner ,
Detlef Hommel  and
Andreas Rosenauer
Marco Schowalter*
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Ingo Stoffers
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Florian F. Krause
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Thorsten Mehrtens
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Knut Müller
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Malte Fandrich
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Timo Aschenbrenner
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Detlef Hommel
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Andreas Rosenauer
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
*
*Corresponding author.schowalter@ifp.uni-bremen.de
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Abstract

In an earlier publication Rosenauer et al. introduced a method for determination of composition in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures from high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) images. Static atomic displacements (SADs) were neglected during simulation of reference data because of the similar covalent radii of Al and Ga. However, SADs have been shown (Grillo et al.) to influence the intensity in HAADF images and therefore could be the reason for an observed slight discrepancy between measured and nominal concentrations. In the present study parameters of the Stillinger–Weber potential were varied in order to fit computed elastic constants, lattice parameters and bonding energies to experimental ones. A reference data set of HAADF images was simulated, in which the new parameterization was used to account for SADs. Two reference samples containing AlGaN layers with different Al concentrations were investigated and Al concentrations in the layers determined based on the new data set. We found that these concentrations were in good agreement with nominal concentrations as well as concentrations determined using alternative techniques such as strain state analysis and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.

Keywords

composition quantificationstatic atomic displacementsSTEMHAADFZ-contrastsemiconductors
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 1463 - 1470
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2014 

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Footnotes

a

M. Schowalter and I. Stoffers contributed to the present work in equal part and share first-authorship.

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