A study of screw dislocations in hydride-vapor-phase-epitaxy (HVPE)
template and molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE) overlayers was performed
using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in plan view and in cross
section. It was observed that screw dislocations in the HVPE layers
were decorated by small voids arranged along the screw axis. However,
no voids were observed along screw dislocations in MBE overlayers. This
was true both for MBE samples grown under Ga-lean and Ga-rich
conditions. Dislocation core structures have been studied in these
samples in the plan-view configuration. These experiments were
supported by image simulation using the most recent models. A direct
reconstruction of the phase and amplitude of the scattered electron
wave from a focal series of high-resolution images was applied. It was
shown that the core structures of screw dislocations in the studied
materials were filled. The filed dislocation cores in an MBE samples
were stoichiometric. However, in HVPE materials, single atomic columns
show substantial differences in intensities and might indicate the
possibility of higher Ga concentration in the core than in the matrix.
A much lower intensity of the atomic column at the tip of the void was
observed. This might suggest presence of lighter elements, such as
oxygen, responsible for their formation.