Measurement of composition profiles in III-nitrides by quantitative scanning transmission electron microscopy

In this paper we demonstrate a quantitative method for composition evaluation based on comparison of normalized image intensity with simulations carried out with the frozen lattice approximation. The method is applied to evaluate composition profiles of AlxGa1-xN/GaN layers. We measure ratios of image intensities obtained in regions with unknown and with known Al-concentration x, respectively. We show that estimation of specimen thickness combined with evaluation of intensity ratios allows quantitative measurement of composition profiles. Delocalization effects at interfaces due to instrumental resolution and dynamic electron diffraction are simulated. These effects can well be described by convolution with a Lorentzian. Measured intensity profiles can be corrected for delocalization effects using statistical parameter estimation so that deconvolution is avoided.