Identifying Dislocations and Stacking Faults in Gan Films by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

The application of annular bright field (ABF) and medium-angle annular dark field (MAADF) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging to crystalline defect analysis has been extended to dislocations and stacking faults (SFs). Dislocations and SFs have been imaged under zone-axis and two-beam diffraction conditions. Comparing to conventional two-beam diffraction contrast images, the ABF and MAADF images of dislocations and SFs not only are complementary and symmetrical with their peaks at dislocation core and SFs plane, but also show similar extinction phenomenon. It is demonstrated that conventional TEM rules for diffraction contrast, i.e. g · b and g · R invisibility criteria remain applicable. The contrast mechanism and extinction of dislocation and SFs in ABF and MAADF STEM are illuminated by zero-order Laue zone Kikuchi diffraction.