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High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy of Semiconductor Surfaces and Interfaces

23 February 1987

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Recent years have seen an increasing application of High Resolution Electron Microscopic techniques to semiconductors and their defects in the widest sense of the word. The core structure of dislocations, the nature of precipitates, the structure of interfaces and, most recently, surfaces, have been investigated and the results proved vital in gaining a better understanding of these systems. A number of limitations, however, have hampered, or prevented, definitive structural characterization of many important systems. In particular, the restriction to the (110) projection, the inability directly to identify individual atomic columns and distinguish between the two sub-lattices of compound semiconductors have been severe constraints. It is the object of this talk to review the present state of affairs and to show that, with the advent of the new generation of HRTEMs, the obstacles mentioned above can now be overcome. The structural characterization of semiconductors and their defects thus appears to be a field of exceptional promise for the next several years.