GaAsP Core–Shell Nanowires with

Oct 30, 2015 - We report the nanoscale quantification of strain in GaAs/GaAsP core–shell nanowires. By tracking the shifting of higher-order Laue zo...
3 downloads 0 Views 2MB Size
Subscriber access provided by UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO LIBRARIES

Communication

Mapping of strain fields in GaAs/GaAsP coreshell nanowires with nanometer resolution Eric J. Jones, Sema Ermez, and Silvija Gradecak Nano Lett., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02733 • Publication Date (Web): 30 Oct 2015 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on November 2, 2015

Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a free service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance. “Just Accepted” manuscripts appear in full in PDF format accompanied by an HTML abstract. “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been fully peer reviewed, but should not be considered the official version of record. They are accessible to all readers and citable by the Digital Object Identifier (DOI®). “Just Accepted” is an optional service offered to authors. Therefore, the “Just Accepted” Web site may not include all articles that will be published in the journal. After a manuscript is technically edited and formatted, it will be removed from the “Just Accepted” Web site and published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these “Just Accepted” manuscripts.

Nano Letters is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Published by American Chemical Society. Copyright © American Chemical Society. However, no copyright claim is made to original U.S. Government works, or works produced by employees of any Commonwealth realm Crown government in the course of their duties.

Page 1 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

1

Mapping of strain fields in GaAs/GaAsP core-shell

2

nanowires with nanometer resolution

3

Eric J. Jones, Sema Ermez, Silvija Gradečak*

4

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

5

Cambridge, MA 02139

6

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

7

Abstract. We report the nanoscale quantification of strain in GaAs/GaAsP core-shell nanowires.

8

By tracking the shifting of higher-order Laue zone (HOLZ) lines in convergent beam electron

9

diffraction patterns, we observe unique variations in HOLZ line separation along different facets

10

of the core-shell structure demonstrating the non-uniform strain fields created by the

11

heterointerface. Furthermore, through the use of continuum mechanical modeling and Bloch

12

wave analysis we calculate expected HOLZ line shift behavior, which are directly matched to

13

experimental results. This comparison demonstrates both the power of electron microscopy as a

14

platform for nanoscale strain characterization and the reliability of continuum models to

15

accurately calculate complex strain fields in nanoscale systems.

16

Keywords. Nanowire, radial heterostructures, convergent beam electron diffraction, continuum

17

modeling, finite element analysis

1 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 2 of 27

18

The inherently high surface-to-volume ratio of nanowires allows for the efficient

19

relaxation of elastic strain enabling the fabrication of heterostructures infeasible in a thin film

20

planar geometry. However, the unique geometry of these nanostructures can also significantly

21

affect the fabrication and operation of strain-engineered devices. Because the heterointerface is

22

no longer planar, it can no longer be assumed that the stress and strain fields will be homogenous

23

along any given direction. Therefore, the ability to quantify strain fields of core-shell nanowires

24

with both high spatial resolution and high strain sensitivities will be vital to the future

25

development and design of strain engineered nanostructures.

26

Techniques such as µ-Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction have been used to

27

investigate stress and strain in core-shell nanowires, but neither of these techniques have the

28

spatial resolution required to probe the strain fields of individual nanostructures.1-3 Transmission

29

electron microscopy (TEM), on the other hand, provides a robust platform for the nanoscale

30

characterization of strain due to its ability to form nanosized electron probes. TEM-based

31

techniques such as convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED), nanobeam electron diffraction

32

(NBED), and geometric phase analysis (GPA) have been shown to be powerful tools for strain

33

quantification in a number of nanoscale heterostructures.4-8 Convergent beam electron

34

diffraction, unlike NBED and GPA, does not require an unstrained reference material to be near

35

the region of interest8 and is therefore of particular interest for the study of core-shell

36

heterostructures that are unlikely to contain any unstrained material. In CBED, deficient higher-

37

order Laue zone (HOLZ) lines are contained within the central disc of a CBED pattern that result

38

from the diffraction of electrons from high index crystal planes. As a result, small uniform

39

strains can have a significant impact on HOLZ line position whereas non-uniform strain fields

40

along the beam direction – due to surface relaxation – have been shown to result in the

2 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 3 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

41

broadening and splitting of HOLZ lines. By tracking the position and width of these lines

42

throughout a series of CBED patterns, local variations in a strain field can be directly observed.7,

43

9-11

44

Due to the inherent complexity of the strain fields created in a core-shell nanowire, it is

45

most often necessary to perform some theoretical simulation of the strain field. While examples

46

of analytical,12 continuum,1, 2, 13-16 and atomistic16, 17 models can be found throughout literature,

47

there exist only a few studies1,

48

experimental data and even fewer that demonstrate the nanoscale spatial resolution needed to

49

probe the strain fields of individual nanowires. This difficulty in comparing theoretical and

50

experimental results has made it challenging to validate the accuracy of any model or decide

51

which model is most appropriately used for a given situation.

2, 17

that compare the resulting simulated strain field with

52

In this work, we demonstrate the use of CBED coupled with a continuum finite element

53

analysis (FEA) model to enable strain field characterization with both high spatial and strain

54

resolution. We focus this study on GaAs-based nanowires that are a widely studied materials

55

platform for the development of advanced opto-electronic devices. Its direct, wide bandgap of

56

1.42 eV makes it an ideal material candidate for light emitting diode18,

57

applications. Furthermore, the ability to alloy GaAs with other materials such as Al, In, and P

58

creates a highly flexible and tunable system allowing for the careful selection of specific

59

materials properties, including a broadly tunable band gap. Heterostructures composed of GaAs

60

and other higher band-gap materials, such as AlGaAs and GaAsP, are of particular importance

61

for the fabrication of GaAs-based opto-electronic devices as the high-bandgap material

62

passivates surface states, which are known to reduce radiative recombination of electronic

63

carriers. The GaAs/GaAsP system presents unique opportunities for strain engineering of

19

and solar cell20-22

3 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 4 of 27

64

materials properties such as band gap23 and carrier mobilities24 while still providing effective

65

passivation of surface states.25, 26 With a maximum lattice mismatch of -3.7% with GaAs for pure

66

GaP, GaAsP shells have been used to shift the emission from GaAs nanowires by as much as 260

67

meV.2 Additionally, while the critical thickness of GaP thin films grown on GaAs is only 2 nm,27

68

defect-free GaAs/GaP core-shell nanowires have been realized with shell thicknesses of 25 nm.2

69

By analyzing the positions of HOLZ lines in series of CBED patterns obtained from

70

individual GaAs/GaAsP core-shell heterostructures, we directly demonstrate the non-uniform

71

nature of the strain fields created by the wrap-around heterointerface. We then show that these

72

experimental results are consistent with strain field calculations performed by FEA. Furthermore,

73

using the calculated strain fields, we simulate series of CBED patterns using a Bloch wave

74

method allowing for a direct comparison to our experimental data. The correlation of these two

75

sets of data (1) demonstrates the ability of our techniques to provide strain information with

76

nanometer spatial resolution and (2) validates the accuracy of our FEA model. These results not

77

only highlight the importance of nanoscale strain characterization but lay the ground work for the

78

rational design of advanced strain engineered devices.

79

GaAs/GaAsP nanowires were grown using a two-step growth process: particle mediated

80

vapor-liquid-solid GaAs nanowire core growth followed by the vapor-solid GaAsP shell

81

deposition.2,

82

Prior to growth, all substrates were cleaned using a standard triple rinse procedure consisting of

83

three, 10 min sonicated rinses in acetone, methanol, and deionized (DI) water. Substrates were

84

then blown dry using compressed air. Dried substrates were coated with a 1% poly-l-lysine

85

aqueous solution for 10 min, rinsed, and dried. Finally, 90 nm Au nanoparticles were drop-cast

28

All nanowires were grown on GaAs substrates with a [111]B surface normal.

4 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 5 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

86

on the substrates: small drops of dilute, aqueous solutions of Au nanoparticles were placed on the

87

substrate and allowed to rest for 10 min. The substrates were then rinsed and blown dry.

88

Prepared substrates were loaded into a horizontal-flow metalorganic chemical vapor

89

deposition reactor. Samples were fist annealed at a temperature of 600 oC for 10 min under

90

flowing arsine to remove any native oxide on the substrate surface.29 This step also allows the

91

Au seed particles to melt and alloy with the substrate surface causing the seed particles to form

92

an epitaxial relationship with the substrate, ensuring vertical nanowire growth. After annealing,

93

the reactor temperature was lowered to 420 oC for nanowire core growth. GaAs cores were

94

grown using a TMGa flow of 16 µmol/min and an arsine flow of 150 µmol/min resulting in a

95

V/III ratio of 9. Wires were grown for a total of 10 min achieving an average length of 12 µm.

96

Core growth was then suspended by stopping the flow of TMGa, and the reactor temperature was

97

increased to 725 °C for shell deposition. TMGa was flown at a rate of 8 µmol/min while AsH3

98

and PH3 were flown at rates of 1267 µmol/min and 1234 µmol/min, respectively, resulting in a

99

V/III ratio of 331. After a 5 min shell deposition, the samples were cooled to room temperature

100

inside the reactor chamber. The flow of group V precursors was continued until below a

101

temperature of 350 oC to prevent degradation of the nanowire sidewall surface.

102

To prepare nanowires for cross-sectional strain investigation, nanowires on the substrate

103

were first flattened and aligned using a mechanical rolling method similar to other approaches

104

described in literature.30 Using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a focused

105

ion beam (FIB), nanowires were then milled into ~100 nm thick cross-sections suitable for TEM

106

analysis. Initial milling was done with a high current and accelerating voltage (30 keV) to

107

minimize sample preparation time, whereas the final thinning was performed at lower beam

108

currents and accelerating voltages (5 keV) to reduce sample damage from the high-energy Ga

5 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 6 of 27

109

beam and minimize Ga implantation. Additionally nanowires were coated with protective layers

110

of amorphous carbon and platinum prior to FIB milling to ensure the milling process did not

111

result in the amorphization of the nanowire shell or core.31

112

After cross-sectional TEM sample preparation, GaAs/GaAsP nanowires were imaged in a

113

JEOL 2010F equipped with an annular dark field detector for scanning TEM (STEM) image

114

acquisition and a CCD camera for bright-field (BF) image and CBED pattern acquisition. CBED

115

patterns were formed using an accelerating voltage of 200 keV, a condenser aperture size of 100

116

µm, and a convergence angle of approximately 30 mrad. Figure 1(a) shows an annular dark-field

117

(ADF) STEM image of a typical GaAs/GaAsP nanowire cross-section while the fast-Fourier

118

analysis of a corresponding high resolution TEM (not shown) confirms growth along the [111]

119

direction with {110} type sidewall facets. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) maps of

120

As and P (Figure 1(b) – 1(c)) confirm the formation of a GaAsP shell that is approximately 22

121

nm thick and indicate an average concentration of 10 at% P in the shell creating a lattice

122

mismatch of -0.3% relative to the GaAs core. EDS maps of Ga (see Supporting Information)

123

show a uniform distribution across both the core and shell confirming a lack of significant Ga

124

implantation during sample preparation by FIB. These EDS maps also indicate regions of higher

125

P concentration (30 at%) located at the corners of the shell, likely the result of in-diffusion that

126

occurred after shell growth while the samples cooled in a PH3 environment or preferential

127

incorporation in corners, which are the most efficient sites for strain relaxation.13 The excess P at

128

the corners leads to higher strains and relaxation in this region of the shell as evidenced by the

129

bright contrast in the ADF-STEM image.32 Due to the non-uniform nature of the P concentration

130

at the corners, we limited our CBED analysis to those patterns obtained far from the corner

131

surfaces.

6 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 7 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

132

CBED studies for the determination of strain require the use of a low symmetry zone axis

133

to minimize HOLZ line interaction. In the case of nanowires, care must also be taken to choose a

134

zone axis that minimizes any projection effects that result as a consequence of tilting away from

135

the nanowire growth axis reducing spatial resolution. Using the JEMS software suite,33 we

136

identified the [556] zone axis, which lies approximately 5o off the [111] growth direction

137

towards [001], as a suitable zone axis for strain study. Figure 2(a) shows a typical example of a

138

CBED pattern obtained along the [556] zone axis in the core of a GaAs/GaAsP core-shell

139

nanowire containing a number of prominent HOLZ lines with minimal interaction. In particular,

140

the {6¯ 42} and {51¯ 3¯ } HOLZ lines maintain a significant contrast across the entire nanowire

141

cross-section and were therefore selected for the analysis. Series of patterns were acquired along

142

lines radiating from the center of the nanowire cross-section towards the facet surfaces, as shown

143

schematically in Figure 2(b), resulting in over 150 patterns obtained from an individual structure.

144

Each series was then analyzed to compare and identify trends in HOLZ line splitting and

145

shifting. Facets were numbered as indicated in Figure 2(b) with facet 1 at the top and counting

146

clockwise.

7 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 8 of 27

147 148

Figure 1. (a) ADF-STEM image of a typical GaAs/GaAsP core-shell nanowire cross-section

149

with a core diameter of 54 nm and a shell thickness of approximately 22 nm. (b – c) EDS maps

150

of As (green) and P (red) signals indicating a uniform distribution of As throughout the core and

151

shell (with a slight reduction of intensity in the shell) and the presence of P only in the shell. The

152

P EDS map (c) also indicates regions of high P content near the surface of the shell corners.

153

As previously mentioned, by observing the shift and width of HOLZ lines, local

154

variations in strain can be directly observed. In our previous studies7, HOLZ line broadening was

155

seen to arise in samples with strain variations on the order of 10-4, setting the lower limit of

156

detectable strain variations. Among all the series of CBED patterns obtained along the facets in

157

this study, almost no HOLZ line broadening was seen indicating limited or no deformation at the

158

sample surface due to relaxation (see Supporting Information). We can therefore assume that the

159

strain fields are below the detection limit along the beam direction (the growth axis). Despite a 8 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 9 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

160

lack of broadening, shifts in HOLZ line position were observed. HOLZ line shifting is best

161

measured by considering the movement of lines of interest relative to other lines. Therefore, a tie

162

line was defined between the intersection points of the (46¯ 2) and (51¯ 3¯ ) lines and the (6¯ 42) and

163

(1¯ 53¯ ) lines, as shown in Figure 2(a). The tie line length was then calculated and measured

164

throughout each series of CBED patterns using the HANSIS software.34 The normalized tie line

165

length was then plotted as a function of the distance from the facet surface (Figures 2(c) – 2(f)),

166

from which several key similarities and differences were observed. Firstly, the normalized tie

167

line length shows two distinct regimes with a transition around 22 nm from the nanowire surface,

168

which roughly corresponds to the GaAsP shell thickness. The only exception is facet 4 (Figure

169

2(f)) with a transition at approximately 18 nm. Because the core-shell interfaces lie along the

170

{110} faces, any tilting away from the growth axis would result in a loss of spatial resolution

171

along certain directions blurring the transition from core to shell. Therefore, this difference in the

172

transition point could be due to projection effects when tilted to the [556] zone axis or drift of the

173

sample during CBED acquisition. In the case of facets 1 and 2 (Figure 2(c) and 2(d),

174

respectively), these regimes can be defined by the distinct increase in tie line length, while along

175

facets 3 and 4 (Figures 2(e) and 2(f), respectively) the different regimes are characterized by an

176

inflection point in the tie line length variation. We note that measurements of the HOLZ line

177

shifting from facets 5 and 6 were attempted; however, due to the thicker shell at facet 5 and the

178

degradation of the protective carbon layer around the nanowire, the data collected was

179

unreliable.

180

9 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 10 of 27

181 182

Figure 2. (a) Experimental CBED pattern obtained along the [556] zone axis in a GaAs/GaAsP

183

core-shell nanowire with two pairs of prominent lines labeled – the {6¯ 42} and {51¯ 3¯ } lines. (b)

184

ADF-STEM image of GaAs/GaAsP nanowire cross-section showing approximate locations

185

where CBED patterns were obtained (colored markers) and scanning directions (white arrows).

186

(c) – (f) Plots of the normalized {46¯ 2}/{51¯ 3¯ } tie line length – yellow line in (a) – versus

187

distance from the facet surface for facets 1 – 4. Dotted lines are a guide to the eye and shading

188

shows approximate transition between core (green) and shell (red).

189

While it is challenging to directly extract the magnitude or direction of a strain field from

190

these plots, they do point to the non-symmetric nature of the strain fields around the nanowire

191

and unique HOLZ line shifting behavior for each facet. This conclusion, at first, seems

192

counterintuitive given the three-fold symmetries of the geometry and the zinc-blende crystal

193

structure of GaAs and GaAsP, thus motivating us to formulate an FEA model for a quantitative

194

analysis that can be compared with the experimental results.

195

The standard geometry used for the FEA models was based on the nanowire cross-section

196

shown in Figure 2(a): a GaAs core with a radius of 54 nm and a 22 nm thick GaAsP shell (the

10 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 11 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

197

thicker shell along facet 5 was not taken into account). Corners of the hexagonal core and shell

198

were filleted (rounded) with a 10 nm radius. The thickness of each model was 75 nm, but a

199

symmetric boundary (no normal displacement) on the back plane of the model creates a virtual

200

thickness of 150 nm – the thickness of the wire cross section as measured by CBED.

201

To preserve the symmetry of the mechanical properties of the core-shell nanowire, the

202

GaAs and GaAsP materials were defined as orthotropic materials with cubic symmetry and

203

elastic constants E, G, and ν shown in Table 1. Therefore, in the following discussion the axes

204

designated as 1, 2, and 3 correspond to the crystallographic directions of [100], [010], and [001],

205

respectively. Similarly to other FEA studies,35 materials were also given a pseudo-thermal

206

expansion coefficient to create the lattice misfit between the materials. In all cases, GaAs is used

207

as the reference and therefore has a coefficient of 0. The elastic constants for GaAs0.9P0.1 were

208

calculated using Vegard’s rule and the elastic constants for GaAs36 and GaP37. In addition to the

209

two materials of the core-shell heterostructures, a surrounding amorphous carbon material was

210

also included to take into account the protective carbon layer surrounding the nanowire. Due to

211

its amorphous nature, this material was described as an isotropic material with elastic constants E

212

38

213

software package.

and ν and no expansion coefficient. All FEA calculations were performed using the ADINA

E (GPa)

G (GPa)

ν

Lattice mismatch

GaAs

85.92

59.6

0.310

0.00

GaAs0.9P0.1

179.86

123.94

0.308

-0.0036

67

NA

0.300

0.00

Material

Amorphous C

214 215

Table 1. Elastic constants and pseudo-coefficients of thermal expansion for materials used in FEA models.

216 11 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 12 of 27

217

Figure 3 shows band plots of the normal and shear strain components at the front surface

218

of a GaAs/GaAsP core-shell heterostructures surrounded by a carbon coating. These plots

219

directly show the low symmetry of the strain fields; it is therefore expected that the combination

220

of strain fields along any facet will be unique leading to unique HOLZ line shifting behavior, as

221

observed experimentally. While the strain fields might be expected to reflect the same three-fold

222

symmetry of the materials system, it must be remembered that the axes along which these strain

223

components have been defined correspond to the crystallographic directions [100], [010], and

224

[001]. Indeed, if we instead plot the stress or strain using a cylindrical coordinate system aligned

225

to the growth axis, much of the symmetry is recovered (see Supporting Information).

226 227

Figure 3. Band plots of the (a) – (c) normal and (d) – (e) shear strain components calculated for

228

a core-shell nanowire heterostructures surrounded by a carbon coating

229

To directly correlate the strain fields and the experimentally obtained CBED results,

230

CBED patterns were simulated based on the strain values extracted from the FEA calculation.

231

Local average strain values were first extracted from the FEA model along lines running through 12 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 13 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

232

the thickness of the model emulating the path an electron beam travels through the sample. These

233

virtual line scans radiate from the surface of each facet towards the center of the nanowire

234

similar to the collection of CBED linescans shown in Figure 2(b). The normal strain components

235

were then used to calculate the lattice parameters a, b, and c using the following equation: ܽ = ܽ଴ + ߝܽ଴

(6-1)

236

where a is the lattice parameter of the average unit cell, a0 is the reference lattice parameter of

237

GaAs, and ε is the appropriate average strain value. Similarly, the unit cell angles α, β, and γ

238

were found to play a major role in determining the behavior of HOLZ line shifting within the

239

core and shell regions and were determined by the following equation using a small angle

240

approximation: α=

π − γ′ 2

(6-2)

241

where γ’ is the appropriate average shear strain value. The resulting average unit cell was then

242

used as the input for the simulation of a CBED pattern. This process was repeated for each

243

position along the line scan. Each simulation assumed a sample thickness of 150 nm – as

244

experimentally determined – and included 30 strong reflections in the calculation while weak

245

reflections were taken into account using a generalized Bethe approximation.39, 40 All simulations

246

were performed using the JEMS software package utilizing a Bloch wave method.33 Figure 4(a)

247

shows an example of a typical simulated CBED pattern that accurately reproduces most of the

248

important features observed in the experimental pattern (Figure 2(a)). The resulting CBED

249

patterns were then analyzed in the same manner as their experimental counterparts in which the

250

length of the {6¯ 42}/{15¯ 3} tie line was measured and plotted as a function of distance away

251

from the facet surface. Figures 4(c) – 4(f) show a comparison of the simulated HOLZ line shift

252

plots (black dots) of a few facets to the experimental data (colored markers) presented earlier. 13 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 14 of 27

253

Not only does the simulated data exhibit core and shell regions, but the variation in tie line length

254

within each region also show good correlation to experimental measurements. Of particular note

255

is the comparison of simulated facet 2 with experimental facet 1 (Figure 4(c)): the core and shell

256

regions show a remarkable agreement both in magnitude and shape. Furthermore, the first data

257

point of the simulated series also suggests that the sharp decrease in tie line length

258

experimentally observed at the facet surface is representative of the HOLZ line behavior, and not

259

an experimental artifact. In fact, this first experimental data point would seem to indicate that the

260

CBED pattern was indeed obtained from the very top 1 nm of material at the facet surface. The

261

fact that this sharp decrease is not observed in other experimental plots could be due to loss of

262

spatial resolution and projection effects (not suffered by facet 1) caused by tilting, or that not all

263

facets exhibit this kind of behavior. It should also be noted that this type of behavior is also not

264

present in all of the simulated patterns, as evidenced by simulated facet 4 (Figure 4(d)).

265

However, out of all six facets simulated only two – facets 3 and 4 – did not exhibit this initial

266

sharp decrease in tie line length at the facet surface. A fuller description of the simulated results

267

can be found in the Supporting Information.

268

14 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 15 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

269 270

Figure 4. (a) Simulated CBED pattern along the [556] zone axis with important HOLZ lines and

271

tie line labeled. (b) Representative schematic of nanowire cross section used in FEA calculations.

272

Protective carbon coating is omitted from the image for clarity. (c) – (f) Comparison of simulated

273

HOLZ line shift plots (black dots) to experimental HOLZ line shift data (colored markers) for

274

some facets.

275

Looking at the other facets, we can see similar levels of agreement between simulated

276

and experimental plots. Figure 4(e) shows an excellent agreement between simulated and

277

experimental facet 3 in both shape and magnitudes. (The high level of noise in the experimental

278

data of facet 3 could be due to projection effects; if we assume that facet 1 suffered the least

279

from projection effects, geometry would dictate that facets 2 and 3 would suffer the most.)

280

Experimental facet 2 presents (Figures 4(d) and (f)) an interesting case in that its overall

281

appearance seems to agree with simulated results, however, matching it to a specific simulated

282

facet is difficult. While there is general agreement in shape and magnitude of change between

283

core and shell regions, behavior within each region is more difficult to match to any of the

15 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 16 of 27

284

simulated profiles. The best match may be with simulated facet 5, with discrepancies at the core-

285

shell interface explained by loss of spatial resolution due to tilting.

286

The fact that the physical nanowire cross-section does vary from the FEA model in a few

287

important respects must also be considered. First is the non-uniform shell thickness at facet 5.

288

The additional shell material would lead to higher levels of stress on this side of the nanowire

289

affecting the surrounding facets. This additional stress could be a reason why no exact match

290

could be made for experimental facet 4 (Figure 2(f)), which lies right next to facet 5, yet facet 1

291

that lies further away can be matched to a simulated profile nearly perfectly. In addition to the

292

non-uniform thickness, Figure 1(a) also demonstrates that the protective carbon layer does not

293

completely surround the nanowire. In fact, facet 4 is almost completely free of carbon material,

294

which has a significant impact on the strain behavior in the shell. Finally, we could also consider

295

that the geometry of the core is not fully correct. ADF-STEM images suggest that there may be

296

some amount of facet rounding. While the model includes fillets at the corners, the facets are

297

assumed to be perfectly flat and sharp at the interface. Creating a more round interface (for

298

example, by in diffusion of P during shell growth) would change the strain fields at that

299

interface. Simulations of core-shell heterostructures with a circular core (see Supporting

300

Information) demonstrate a flattening of the strain fields in the core. This would naturally lead to

301

less variation of HOLZ line splitting in the core region. While strain fields in the shell are mostly

302

the same, it is observed that the circular core seems to spread out the strain fields in the shell

303

instead of keeping them more confined to a particular facet.

304

These results show that small changes in the predicted fields lead to significant changes

305

in the predicted HOLZ line shifting. In turn, the predicted strain fields are seen to be highly

306

dependent on many factors including chemistry, geometry, and local environment. Therefore we

16 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 17 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

307

believe that the matching of experimental and simulated results (Figure 4(c) – 4(f)) demonstrate

308

not only the ability of CBED to accurately measure and map the strain fields in geometrically

309

complex heterostructures such as the GaAs/GaAsP core-shell nanowires analyzed in this

310

investigation but also the validity of our FEA model.

311

In this work we have demonstrated how the combination of CBED and continuum

312

simulation techniques enables the mapping of strain fields throughout a core-shell nanowire

313

heterstructure with nanoscale spatial resolution. By measuring the shift of HOLZ lines as a

314

function of position in the GaAs/GaAsP core-shell nanowires, we reveal the non-uniformity of

315

the strain fields created by a wrap-around heterointerface. Using FEA calculated strain fields,

316

series of simulated CBED patterns were generated allowing for a more direct comparison with

317

the experimental data. This comparison not only provides a quantitative picture of the varying

318

strain field components, but also a better understanding of what factors affect the strain fields in

319

the heterostructures. Additionally, these results show the accuracy and validity of strain field

320

calculations by continuum methods such as FEA providing confidence in their future

321

applications for strain prediction in nanoscale systems. Although we focus on a particular

322

system, our results provide a foundation for understanding the impacts of geometry,

323

composition, and surface relaxation on strain fields in core-shell nanowires in general informing

324

both future modeling and experimental studies.

325 326

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no competing financial interest.

327

Associated Content

328

Supporting

329

heterostructure, a more detailed analysis of HOLZ line splitting, and further discussion of the

Information

containing

additional

compositional

maps

of the nanowire

17 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 18 of 27

330

effects of core geometry on strain field calculations. This material is available free of charge via

331

the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

332

Acknowledgements

333

S.G. acknowledges the support of the Engineering Research Center Program of the National

334

Science Foundation and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the

335

Department of Energy under NSF Cooperative Agreement No. EEC

336

MIT Energy Initiative Shell Seed Fund Program. E.J.J. acknowledges the support of the National

337

Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program. The authors would like to

338

acknowledge the use of the shared facilities at the Center for Materials Science and Engineering

339

which is supported in part by the MRSEC Program of National Science Foundation under award

340

number DMR-08-19762.

1041895 as well as of the

341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 18 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 19 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

351

References

352

1.

353

Holy, V.; Bauer, G.; Deppert, K.; Samuelson, L. Nano Letters 2009, 9, 1877-1882.

354

2.

355

H.; Gao, Q.; Tan, H. H.; Jagadish, C.; Guo, Y. N.; Zou, J.; Pistol, M. E.; Pryor, C. E. Nano

356

Letters 2010, 10, 880-886.

357

3.

358

Vescovi, G.; Bi, Z.; Mikkelsen, A.; Samuelson, L.; Gundlach, C. Journal of Applied

359

Crystallography 2015, 48, 344-349.

360

4.

361

Applied Physics Letters 2013, 103, 231904.

362

5.

363

233121.

364

6.

365

95, 123114.

366

7.

367

2012, 101, 113101.

368

8.

Béché, A.; Rouviere, J. L.; Barnes, J. P.; Cooper, D. Ultramicroscopy 2013, 131, 10-23.

369

9.

Rao, D. V. S.; McLaughlin, K.; Kappers, M. J.; Humphreys, C. J. Ultramicroscopy 2009,

370

109, 1250-1255.

371

10.

372

Ultramicroscopy 2006, 106, 951-959.

373

11.

Keplinger, M.; Martensson, T.; Stangl, J.; Wintersberger, E.; Mandl, B.; Kriegner, D.;

Montazeri, M.; Fickenscher, M.; Smith, L. M.; Jackson, H. E.; Yarrison-Rice, J.; Kang, J.

Stankevic, T.; Mickevicius, S.; Schou Nielsen, M.; Kryliouk, O.; Ciechonski, R.;

Jones, E. J.; Cooper, D.; Rouviere, J. L.; Béché, A.; Azize, M.; Palacios, T.; Gradecak, S.

Cooper, D.; Le Royer, C.; Beche, A.; Rouviere, J. L. Applied Physics Letters 2012, 100,

Béché, A.; Rouviere, J. L.; Clement, L.; Hartmann, J. M. Applied Physics Letters 2009,

Jones, E. J.; Azize, M.; Smith, M. J.; Palacios, T.; Gradecak, S. Applied Physics Letters

Houdellier, F.; Roucau, C.; Clément, L.; Rouvière, J. L.; Casanove, M. J.

Clement, L.; Cacho, F.; Pantel, R.; Rouviere, J. L. Micron 2009, 40, 886-893. 19 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 20 of 27

374

12.

Ferrand, D.; Cibert, J. Eur. Phys. J.-Appl. Phys 2014, 67, 30403.

375

13.

Li, Q. M.; Wang, G. T. Applied Physics Letters 2010, 97, 181107.

376

14.

Keplinger, M.; Kriegner, D.; Stangl, J.; Martensson, T.; Mandl, B.; Wintersberger, E.;

377

Bauer, G. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B-Beam Interact. Mater. Atoms 2010, 268,

378

316-319.

379

15.

Pistol, M. E.; Pryor, C. E. Physical Review B 2008, 78, 115319.

380

16.

Gronqvist, J.; Sondergaard, N.; Boxberg, F.; Guhr, T.; Aberg, S.; Xu, H. Q. Journal of

381

Applied Physics 2009, 106, 053508.

382

17.

383

Bougerol, C.; Renevier, H.; Daudin, B. Nanotechnology 2010, 21, 415702.

384

18.

385

1644.

386

19.

387

617-20.

388

20.

389

Nygard, J.; i Morral, A. F. Nature Photonics 2013, 7, 306-310.

390

21.

391

173108.

392

22.

393

Nano Letters 2011, 11, 2490-2494.

394

23.

395

Samuelson, L. Nano Letters 2005, 5, 1943-1947.

396

24.

Hestroffer, K.; Mata, R.; Camacho, D.; Leclere, C.; Tourbot, G.; Niquet, Y. M.; Cros, A.;

Tomioka, K.; Motohisa, J.; Hara, S.; Hiruma, K.; Fukui, T. Nano Letters 2010, 10, 1639-

Gudiksen, M. S.; Lauhon, L. J.; Wang, J.; Smith, D. C.; Lieber, C. M. Nature 2002, 415,

Krogstrup, P.; Jørgensen, H. I.; Heiss, M.; Demichel, O.; Holm, J. V.; Aagesen, M.;

Colombo, C.; Heiss, M.; Gratzel, M.; Morral, A. F. I. Applied Physics Letters 2009, 94,

Mariani, G.; Wong, P. S.; Katzenmeyer, A. M.; Leonard, F.; Shapiro, J.; Huffaker, D. L.

Sköld, N.; Karlsson, L. S.; Larsson, M. W.; Pistol, M.-E.; Seifert, W.; Trägårdh, J.;

Xiang, J.; Lu, W.; Hu, Y. J.; Wu, Y.; Yan, H.; Lieber, C. M. Nature 2006, 441, 489-493.

20 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 21 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

397

25.

Hua, B.; Motohisa, J.; Kobayashi, Y.; Hara, S.; Fukui, T. Nano Letters 2009, 9, 112-116.

398

26.

Couto, O. D. D.; Sercombe, D.; Puebla, J.; Otubo, L.; Luxmoore, I. J.; Sich, M.; Elliott,

399

T. J.; Chekhovich, E. A.; Wilson, L. R.; Skolnick, M. S.; Liu, H. Y.; Tartakovskii, A. I. Nano

400

Letters 2012, 12, 5269-5274.

401

27.

Schuler, O.; Wallart, X.; Mollot, F. J. Cryst. Growth 1999, 201, 280-283.

402

28.

Tambe, M. J.; Lim, S. K.; Smith, M. J.; Allard, L. F.; Gradečak, S. Applied Physics

403

Letters 2008, 93, 151917.

404

29.

405

Grazul, J.; Muller, D. A. Applied Physics Letters 2005, 86, 152904.

406

30.

407

N.; Tsukernik, A.; Oksman, M.; Patolsky, F. Nano Letters 2010, 10, 1202-1208.

408

31.

Rubanov, S.; Munroe, P. R. J. Microsc.-Oxf. 2004, 214, 213-221.

409

32.

Wu, X.; Robertson, M. D.; Gupta, J. A.; Baribeau, J. M. J. Phys.-Condes. Matter 2008,

410

20, 075215.

411

33.

Stadelmann, P. A. Ultramicroscopy 1987, 21, 131-145.

412

34.

Holec, D.; Rao, D. V. S.; Humphreys, C. J. Ultramicroscopy 2009, 109, 837-844.

413

35.

Christiansen, S.; Albrecht, M.; Strunk, H. P.; Maier, H. J. Applied Physics Letters 1994,

414

64, 3617.

415

36.

416

15, 1757-1761.

417

37.

Yogurtcu, Y. K.; Miller, A. J.; Saunders, G. A. J. Phys. Chem. Solids 1981, 42, 49-56.

418

38.

Kim, C. S.; Ahn, S. H. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 2014, 15, 1485-1488.

419

39.

Bethe, H. Ann. Phys.-Berlin 1928, 87, 55-129.

Frank, M. M.; Wilk, G. D.; Starodub, D.; Gustafsson, T.; Garfunkel, E.; Chabal, Y. J.;

Pevzner, A.; Engel, Y.; Elnathan, R.; Ducobni, T.; Ben-Ishai, M.; Reddy, K.; Shpaisman,

Burenkov, Y. A.; Burdukov, Y. M.; Davydov, S. Y.; Nikanoro.Sp. Fiz. Tverd. Tela 1973,

21 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

420

40.

421

1996, 65, 45-52.

Page 22 of 27

Saunders, M.; Bird, D. M.; Holbrook, O. F.; Midgley, P. A.; Vincent, R. Ultramicroscopy

22 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 23 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

78x101mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

132x72mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 24 of 27

Page 25 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

Figure 3 175x84mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Nano Letters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Figure 4 142x77mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 26 of 27

Page 27 of 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Nano Letters

76x23mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment