Atomic Resolution Characterization of Semiconductor Materials by Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscopy

Abstract

Transmission electron microscopy is one of the most frequently used tools for the atomic-scale characterization of atomic and electronic structures of semiconductor materials. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) provides electron-probe sizes of the order of atom diameters and, hence, enables the atomic resolution and single atom sensitivity for the analysis of both atomic structures and local bonding behaviors of interfaces and point defects. In this chapter, applications of aberration-corrected STEM and related techniques to semiconductor materials, such as Si nanowires, alternate gate dielectrics, ZnO nanorods, and InAs quantum wires are reviewed.