Transmission electron microscope study of II-VI/III-V semiconductor interfaces

Structures of ZnSe/GaAs epitaxial interfaces have been studied by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Narrow dark bands are observed along these interfaces in their bright field and high resolution electron microscope images, suggesting a certain form of modifications of the structure. Despite the appearance of the dark hands, perfect coherent lattice structures are observed in high resolution images of the interfaces. Weak beam dark field images indicate the presence of lattice distortions in the neighborhood of the interfaces. These observations are explained by assuming the existence of a thin interface layer which maintain the coherent lattice relation with matrix crystals. As-grown and annealed ZnSe/GaAs epitaxial interfaces are compared in order to investigate the structural origin of the change of the electrical property of the interface by the post-growth annealing. The observation suggests that the interfacial layer remains after annealing but has changed into a slightly broader one.