Application of convergent-beam illumination methods to the study of lattice distortion across the interface

Abstract

A high accuracy measurement of the lattice parameter can be obtained by x-ray diffraction. However, these methods have low spatial resolution and are limited by sample thickness. Therefore, for heterolayers much better information about local distortions near the interface can be obtained by electron microscopy using convergent-beam illumination. Large-angle convergent-beam electron diffraction (LACBED) patterns and convergent-beam imaging (CBIM) were applied to study of the lattice distortion across the interface of the GaAs epilayer grown on [001] GaAs substrate and the GaAs layer grown at 200°C (called the low-temperature (LT) layer). These LT GaAs layers are grown by molecular beam epitaxy from As oversaturation and are known to be As rich. Particle-induced x-ray studies reveal up to 1.5 % extra As. This excess As leads to the expansion of the lattice parameter up to 0.15% when measured by x-ray diffraction along the (004) reflection. From this study, it was expected that a cubic expansion of the lattice parameter would be equal in all three directions. However, TEM studies do not reveal the formation of dislocations at the interface, which would be expected taking into account the difference in the lattice parameter across the interface . Convergence beam illumination methods were applied to study in detail the strain, lattice parameter variation, and crystallographic distortion across the interface, since these methods have spatial resolution several orders of magnitude higher than x-ray diffraction. A CBED pattern taken in the substrate and in the layer with an incidence close to the [530] direction (exact orientation [0.869 0.495 0]) reveals the lattice parameter change, since the position of the cross of the 1113 and 1113 lines changes when an electron beam is placed in the substrate and the layer, respectively (Fig. la,b).