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Investigation of III–V Nanowires by Plan-View Transmission Electron Microscopy: InN Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2014

Esperanza Luna ,
Javier Grandal ,
Eva Gallardo ,
José M. Calleja ,
Miguel Á. Sánchez-García ,
Enrique Calleja  and
Achim Trampert
Esperanza Luna*
Affiliation:
Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
Javier Grandal
Affiliation:
Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, D-10117 Berlin, Germany ISOM and Departamento Ingeniería Electrónica, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
Eva Gallardo
Affiliation:
Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, D-10117 Berlin, Germany Departamento de Física de Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
José M. Calleja
Affiliation:
Departamento de Física de Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
Miguel Á. Sánchez-García
Affiliation:
ISOM and Departamento Ingeniería Electrónica, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
Enrique Calleja
Affiliation:
ISOM and Departamento Ingeniería Electrónica, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
Achim Trampert
Affiliation:
Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
*
*Corresponding author.luna@pdi-berlin.de
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Abstract

We discuss observations of InN nanowires (NWs) by plan-view high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The main difficulties arise from suitable methods available for plan-view specimen preparation. We explore different approaches and find that the best results are obtained using a refined preparation method based on the conventional procedure for plan-view TEM of thin films, specifically modified for the NW morphology. The fundamental aspects of such a preparation are the initial mechanical stabilization of the NWs and the minimization of the ion-milling process after dimpling the samples until perforation. The combined analysis by plan-view and cross-sectional TEM of the NWs allows determination of the degree of strain relaxation and reveals the formation of an unintentional shell layer (2–3-nm thick) around the InN NWs. The shell layer is composed of bcc In2O3 nanocrystals with a preferred orientation with respect to the wurtzite InN: In2O3 [111] || InN [0001] and In2O3 <110> || InN< $$ 11\bar 20 $$ >.

Keywords

transmission electron microscopyplan-view TEMnanowiresIII–V semiconductorsInNmolecular beam epitaxy
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 1471 - 1478
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2014 

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