Abstract
The atomic structure of a SiGe/Si epitaxial interface grown via molecular beam epitaxy on a single crystal silicon substrate was investigated using an aberration-corrected scanning transmittance electron microscope equipped with a high-angle annular dark-field detector and an energy-dispersive spectrometer. The accuracy required for compensation of the various residual aberration coefficients to achieve sub-angstrom resolution with the electron optics system was also evaluated. It was found that the interfacial layer was composed of a silicon single crystal, connected coherently to epitaxial SiGe nanolaminates. In addition, the distance between the dumbbell structures of the Si and Ge atoms was approximately 0.136 nm at the SiGe/Si interface in the [110] orientation. The corresponding fast Fourier transform exhibited a sub-angstrom scale point resolution of 0.78 Å. Furthermore, the relative positions of the atoms in the chemical composition line scan signals could be directly interpreted from the corresponding incoherent high-angle annular dark-field image.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 578 |
Journal | Nanoscale Research Letters |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 01 12 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2014, Hsiao et al.; licensee Springer.
Keywords
- Aberration correction
- EDS
- EELS
- HAADF
- HRSTEM
- HRTEM
- Z contrast