Origin of giant enhancement of phase contrast in electron holography of modulation-doped n-type GaN.

The electron optical phase contrast probed by electron holography at n-n+ GaN doping steps is found to exhibit a giant enhancement, in sharp contrast to the always smaller than expected phase contrast reported for p-n junctions. We unravel the physical origin of the giant enhancement by combining off-axis electron holography data with self-consistent electrostatic potential calculations. The predominant contribution to the phase contrast is shown to arise from the doping dependent screening length of the surface Fermi-level pinning, which is induced by FIB-implanted carbon point defects below the outer amorphous shell. The contribution of the built-in potential is negligible for modulation doping and only relevant for large built-in potentials at e.g. p-n junctions. This work provides a quantitative approach to so-called dead layers at TEM lamellas.

Non-topographic current contrast in scanning field emission microscopy.

In scanning field emission microscopy (SFEM), a tip (the source) is approached to few (or a few tens of) nanometres distance from a surface (the collector) and biased to field-emit electrons. In a previous study (Zanin et al. 2016 Proc. R. Soc. A 472, 20160475. (doi:10.1098/rspa.2016.0475)), the field-emitted current was found to change by approximately 1% at a monatomic surface step (approx. 200 pm thick). Here we prepare surface domains of adjacent different materials that, in some instances, have a topographic contrast smaller than 15 pm. Nevertheless, we observe a contrast in the field-emitted current as high as 10%. This non-topographic collector material dependence is a yet unexplored degree of freedom calling for a new understanding of the quantum mechanical tunnelling barrier at the source site that takes into account the properties of the material at the collector site.

Iuliacumite: A Novel Chemical Short-Range Order in a Two-Dimensional Wurtzite Single Monolayer InAs1-xSbx Shell on InAs Nanowires.

A chemical short-range order is found in single monolayer InAs1-xSbx shells, which inherit a wurtzite structure from the underlying InAs nanowire, instead of crystallizing in the energetically preferred zincblende structure. The chemical order is characterized by an anticorrelation ordering vector in the ⟨112̅0⟩ direction and arises from strong Sb-Sb repulsive interactions along the atomic chains in the ⟨112̅0⟩ direction.

Composition modulation by twinning in InAsSb nanowires.

We observe a composition modulated axial heterostructure in zincblende (ZB) InAs0.90Sb0.10 nanowires initiated by pseudo-periodic twin boundaries using scanning tunneling microscopy. The twin boundaries exhibit four planes with reduced Sb concentration due to a lower Sb incorporation during lateral overgrowth of a 4H wurtzite as compared to a ZB stacking sequence. We anticipate that this leads to compositional band offsets in addition to known structural band offsets present between 4H and ZB polytypes, changing the band alignment from type II to type I.

Resistive switching in optoelectronic III-V materials based on deep traps.

Resistive switching random access memories (ReRAM) are promising candidates for energy efficient, fast, and non-volatile universal memories that unite the advantages of RAM and hard drives. Unfortunately, the current ReRAM materials are incompatible with optical interconnects and wires. Optical signal transmission is, however, inevitable for next generation memories in order to overcome the capacity-bandwidth trade-off. Thus, we present here a proof-of-concept of a new type of resistive switching realized in III-V semiconductors, which meet all requirements for the implementation of optoelectronic circuits. This resistive switching effect is based on controlling the spatial positions of vacancy-induced deep traps by stimulated migration, opening and closing a conduction channel through a semi-insulating compensated surface layer. The mechanism is widely applicable to opto-electronically usable III-V compound semiconductors.

Correction of nonlinear lateral distortions of scanning probe microscopy images.

A methodology for the correction of scanning probe microscopy image distortions is demonstrated. It is based on the determination of displacement vectors from the measurement of a calibration sample. By moving the pixels of the distorted scanning probe microscopy image along the displacement vectors an almost complete correction of the nonlinear, time independent distortions is achieved.