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Coincident Electron Channeling and Cathodoluminescence Studies of Threading Dislocations in GaN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2013

Gunasekar Naresh-Kumar ,
Jochen Bruckbauer ,
Paul R. Edwards ,
Simon Kraeusel ,
Ben Hourahine ,
Robert W. Martin ,
Menno J. Kappers ,
Michelle A. Moram ,
Stephen Lovelock  and
Rachel A. Oliver
...Show all authors
Gunasekar Naresh-Kumar*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK
Jochen Bruckbauer
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK
Paul R. Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK
Simon Kraeusel
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK
Ben Hourahine
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK
Robert W. Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK
Menno J. Kappers
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
Michelle A. Moram
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Stephen Lovelock
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
Rachel A. Oliver
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
Colin J. Humphreys
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
Carol Trager-Cowan
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

We combine two scanning electron microscopy techniques to investigate the influence of dislocations on the light emission from nitride semiconductors. Combining electron channeling contrast imaging and cathodoluminescence imaging enables both the structural and luminescence properties of a sample to be investigated without structural damage to the sample. The electron channeling contrast image is very sensitive to distortions of the crystal lattice, resulting in individual threading dislocations appearing as spots with black–white contrast. Dislocations giving rise to nonradiative recombination are observed as black spots in the cathodoluminescence image. Comparison of the images from exactly the same micron-scale region of a sample demonstrates a one-to-one correlation between the presence of single threading dislocations and resolved dark spots in the cathodoluminescence image. In addition, we have also obtained an atomic force microscopy image from the same region of the sample, which confirms that both pure edge dislocations and those with a screw component (i.e., screw and mixed dislocations) act as nonradiative recombination centers for the Si-doped c-plane GaN thin film investigated.

Keywords

electron channelingcathodoluminescenceSEMdiffractionspectroscopynitridesdislocations
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 55 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2014 

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