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Absence of Lateral Composition Fluctuations in Aberration-corrected STEM Images of an InGaN Quantum Well at Low Dose

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2012

Andrew B. Yankovich
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI 53706 U.S.A.
A. V. Kvit
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI 53706 U.S.A.
X. Li
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284 U.S.A.
F. Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284 U.S.A.
V. Avrutin
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284 U.S.A.
H.Y. Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284 U.S.A.
N. Izyumskaya
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284 U.S.A.
Ü. Özgür
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284 U.S.A.
H. Morkoç
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284 U.S.A.
P. M. Voyles
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI 53706 U.S.A.
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Abstract

By using aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy we have found no small scale lateral In composition fluctuations exist in the In0.15Ga0.85N active region of a light emitting diode. Images were acquired at 2% of the electron dose known to create electron beam damage, so the acquired images reflect the intrinsic structure of the InGaN active region. Position averaged convergent beam electron diffraction reveals the local sample thickness where images were acquired is 4.8 nm, eliminating the possibility that the absence of composition variation was observed due to projection through a thick sample. In addition, 2-3 atomic layer steps were observed in the top surface of In0.08Ga0.92N layers and the In0.15Ga0.85N active layers, providing a possible mechanism for lateral carrier confinement.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

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