Design of a novel correlative reflection electron microscope for in-situ real-time chemical analysis

A novel instrument that integrates reflection high energy electron diffraction(RHEED),electron energy loss spectroscopy(EELS),and imaging is designed and simulated.Since it can correlate the structural,elemental,and spatial information of the same surface region via the simultaneously acquired patterns of RHEED,EELS,and energy-filtered electron microscopy,it is named correlative reflection electron microscopy(c-REM).Our simulation demonstrates that the spatial resolution of this c-REM is lower than 50 nm,which meets the requirements for in-situ monitoring the structural and chemical evolution of surface in advanced material.

Effect of thickness on the microstructure of GaN films on Al_2 O_3 (0001) by laser molecular beam epitaxy

Heteroepitaxial GaN films are grown on sapphire （0001） substrates using laser molecular beam epitaxy. The growth processes are in-situ monitored by reflection high energy electron diffraction. It is revealed that the growth mode of GaN transformed from three-dimensional （3D） island mode to two-dimensional （2D） layer-by-layer mode with the increase of thickness. This paper investigates the interfacial strain relaxation of GaN films by analysing their diffraction patterns. Calculation shows that the strain is completely relaxed when the thickness reaches 15 nm. The surface morphology evolution indicates that island merging and reduction of the island-edge barrier provide an effective way to make GaN films follow a 2D layer-by-layer growth mode. The ll0-nm GaN films with a 2D growth mode have smooth regular hexagonal shapes. The X-ray diffraction indicates that thickness has a significant effect on the crystallized quality of GaN thin films.

Cubic ZnO films obtained at low pressure by molecular beam epitaxy

A zinc oxide thin film in cubic crystalline phase, which is usually prepared under high pressure, has been grown on the Mg O（001） substrate by a three-step growth using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The cubic structure is confirmed by in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction measurements and simulations. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that the outer-layer surface of the film（less than 5 nm thick） is of ZnO phase while the buffer layer above the substrate is of ZnMgO phase, which is further confirmed by the band edge transmissions at the wavelengths of about 390 nm and 280 nm, respectively. The x-ray diffraction exhibits no peaks related to wurtzite ZnO phase in the film. The cubic ZnO film is presumably considered to be of the rock-salt phase. This work suggests that the metastable cubic ZnO films, which are of applicational interest for p-type doping, can be epitaxially grown on the rock-salt substrates without the usually needed high pressure conditions.