Modified qHAADF method for atomic column-by-column compositional quantification of semiconductor heterostructures

• Published in: Journal of materials science 2019-02, Vol.54 (4), p.3230-3241
• Main Authors: Khan, Atif A., Herrera, M., Pizarro, J., Galindo, P. L., Carrington, P. J., Fujita, H., Krier, A., Molina, S. I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Composition; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Electronic Materials; Heterostructures; Indium antimonide; Indium arsenides; Intermetallic compounds; Materials Science; Photomicrographs; Polymer Sciences; Semiconductor materials; Solid Mechanics
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-018-3073-y

The qHAADF method allows the quantification of the composition at atomic column resolution in semiconductor materials by comparing the HAADF-STEM intensities between a region of interest to a region of the material of known composition. However, the application of this qHAADF approach requires both regions to be differentiable and included in the same micrograph at close proximity. This limits the application of this approach to certain materials and magnifications where this requirement is fulfilled. In this work, we extend the qHAADF method to analyses where the reference region is imaged in a separate micrograph. The validity of this modified method is proved by comparison to the original qHAADF approach using HAADF-STEM simulated images of the semiconductor heterostructure InSb/InAs. Additionally, the methods are applied successfully to experimental images both of a simple InSb/InAs interface and of a complex InSb/GaSb heterostructure, justifying the significance of the modified method over the original method.