High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy of Semiconductors and Their Defects.

The fundamentals of high resolution lattice image formation are reviewed to show that only a systematic experimental procedure, augmented by computer calculation, allows the reliable interpretation of lattice images. By considering examples from the study of solid/solid interfaces, the capabilities and limitations of high resolution transmission electron microscopy are illustrated. The new possibilities offered by the new generation of electron microscopes are described to show how they allow the circumvention of the limitations so far encountered in the structural characterization of semiconductor systems. In particular, it is now possible simultaneously to obtain structural and chemical information on an atomic scale.