STACKING-FAULT ENERGIES OF GAAS

Transmission electron microscopy is used to determine the dissociation width of extended dislocations in n-, si-, and p-GaAs. Results obtained by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and the weak-beam technique (WB) are compared. Reasons for the differences between the results obtained from WB and HRTEM and their influence on the determination of the stacking-fault energy are discussed. The results are compared with previous investigations, which show a wide scatter of results despite the fact, that the stacking-fault energy is an intrinsic material property. A number of parameters, such as the defect used for the determination, localization of the partial-dislocation cores and the electrical characteristics of the material are considered to explain the discrepancies.