Applications of electron channeling contrast imaging for characterizing nitride semiconductor thin films

We are now all familiar with the bright blue, green and white LEDs that light up our electronic appliances; decorate our streets and buildings and illuminate airport runways. However, the ultimate performance of these nitride semiconductor based LEDs is limited by extended defects such as threading dislocations (TDs), partial dislocations (PDs) and stacking faults (SFs). If we want to develop LEDs to be an effective replacement for the light bulb, or have sufficient power to purify water; we need to eliminate these defects as they act as scattering centres for light and charge carriers and give rise to nonradiative recombination and to leakage currents, severely limiting device performance. The capability to rapidly detect and analyze TDs, PDs and SFs, with negligible sample preparation, represents a real step forward in the development of more efficient nitride-based semiconductor devices