EELS investigation of the electron conduction-band states in wurtzite AlN and oxygen-doped AlN(O)

The electronic structures of pure and oxygen-doped AlN thin foils, grown by the chemical-vapor-deposition technique, have been thoroughly investigated using electron energy-loss measurements in a transmission electron microscope. This technique offers the advantage of providing spectral data with a typical sub-1-eV energy resolution from well-characterized areas. The interpretation of the experimentally determined electron energy-loss near edge requires the detailed comparison with theoretical calculations of unoccupied densities of states using self-consistent methods or from non-self-consistent multiple scattering calculations.