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A tool for automatic recognition of [110] tilt grain boundaries in zincblende‐type crystals
Author(s) -
Kozak Roksolana,
Kurdzesau Fiodar,
Prieto Ivan,
Skibitzki Oliver,
Schroeder Thomas,
Arroyo Rojas Dasilva Yadira,
Erni Rolf,
von Känel Hans,
Rossell Marta D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s1600576717010858
Subject(s) - misorientation , crystallography , materials science , scanning transmission electron microscopy , grain boundary , zone axis , dark field microscopy , epitaxy , high resolution transmission electron microscopy , crystal structure , lattice (music) , transmission electron microscopy , tilt (camera) , reciprocal lattice , electron diffraction , optics , chemistry , geometry , microscopy , nanotechnology , diffraction , physics , microstructure , mathematics , layer (electronics) , acoustics
The local atomic structure of [110] tilt grain boundaries (GBs) formed in ∼100 nm‐sized GaAs nanocrystals, which crystallize in the non‐centrosymmetric zincblende‐type structure with face‐centred cubic lattice symmetry, was imaged and analysed by means of high‐resolution high‐angle annular dark‐field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF‐STEM). The nanocrystals were grown by metal–organic vapour phase epitaxy on top of (001) Si nanotips embedded in an oxide matrix. This paper introduces an automatic analysis method and corresponding processing tool for the identification of the GBs. The method comprises (i) extraction of crystallographic parameters, i.e. misorientation angles and transformation matrices for the different crystal parts (grains/twins) observed by HAADF‐STEM, and (ii) determination of their common plane(s) by modelling all possible intersections of the corresponding three‐dimensional reciprocal lattices. The structural unit model is also used to characterize the GB structures and to validate the data obtained by the developed algorithm.