Determination of the chemical composition of GaNAs using STEM HAADF imaging and STEM strain state analysis

The nitrogen concentration of GaN0.01≤x≤0.05As1−x quantum wells was determined from high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HRSTEM) images taken with a high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) detector. This was done by applying two independent methods: evaluation of the scattering intensity and strain state analysis. The HAADF scattering intensity was computed by multislice simulations taking into account the effect of static atomic displacements and thermal diffuse scattering. A comparison of the mean intensity per atom column on the experimental images with these simulations enabled us to generate composition maps with atomic scale resolution. STEM simulations of large supercells proved that local drops of the HAADF intensity observed close to embedded quantum wells are caused by surface strain relaxation. The same STEM images were evaluated by strain state analysis. We suggest a real space method which is not affected by fly-back errors in HRSTEM images. The results of both evaluation methods are in accordance with data obtained from X-ray diffraction measurements. ► HAADF STEM scattering intensity of dilute GaNAs simulated. ► Intensity dominated by scattering at static atomic displacements. ► Quantitative chemical analysis by comparison of experiment and simulation. ► Results confirmed by strain state analysis applied to the same images. ► Verification of strain induced HAADF contrast by multislice simulations.