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Precession electron diffraction‐assisted crystal phase mapping of metastable c‐GaN films grown on (001) GaAs
Author(s) -
RuizZepeda Francisco,
CasallasMoreno Yenny L.,
CantuValle Jesus,
Alducin Diego,
Santiago Ulises,
JoséYacaman Miguel,
LópezLópez Máximo,
Ponce Arturo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.22424
Subject(s) - materials science , nucleation , facet (psychology) , electron diffraction , phase (matter) , metastability , diffraction , hexagonal phase , thin film , nitride , semiconductor , crystal (programming language) , crystallography , condensed matter physics , faceting , optics , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , layer (electronics) , chemistry , physics , psychology , social psychology , organic chemistry , personality , computer science , big five personality traits , programming language
ABSTRACT The control growth of the cubic meta‐stable nitride phase is a challenge because of the crystalline nature of the nitrides to grow in the hexagonal phase, and accurately identifying the phases and crystal orientations in local areas of the nitride semiconductor films is important for device applications. In this study, we obtained phase and orientation maps of a metastable cubic GaN thin film using precession electron diffraction (PED) under scanning mode with a point‐to‐point 1 nm probe size beam. The phase maps revealed a cubic GaN thin film with hexagonal GaN inclusions of columnar shape. The orientation maps showed that the inclusions have nucleation sites at the cubic GaN {111} facets. Different growth orientations of the inclusions were observed due to the possibility of the hexagonal {0001} plane to grow on any different {111} cubic facet. However, the generation of the hexagonal GaN inclusions is not always due to a 60° rotation of a {111} plane. These findings show the advantage of using PED along with phase and orientation mapping, and the analysis can be extended to differently composed semiconductor thin films. Microsc. Res. Tech. 77:980–985, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.