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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

The Effect of Anodization Parameters on the Aluminum Oxide Dielectric Layer of Thin-Film Transistors
Published on: May 24, 2020
Electron microscopy determination of crystallographic polarity of aluminum nitride thin films
Noriyuki Kuwano1, Jesbains Kaur2, Siti Rahmah1
1Microscopy Laboratory, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Abstract:
Aluminum nitride (AlN) crystallizes usually in the wurtzite structure (P63mc) and it has a crystallographic polarity. In this work, the polarity in AlN was characterized by using several methods of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to examine their applicability. AlN was deposited by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), followed by annealing at 1550 °C. TEM samples were prepared by using a focused ion beam (FIB) mill. Observation was performed with microscopes of JEM-2100, JEM-ARM200 F and FEI Titan Cubed G2 at Kyushu University (Japan), and the following results were obtained. (1) Conventional TEM imaging: Under a diffraction condition with hkil = 0002, inversion domains or an inversion domain boundary (IDB) was observed. (2) Scanning TEM (STEM) High-Angle Annular Dark Field (HAADF) imaging: Even when atomic column images of Al and N are not resolved completely from each other, the polarity was determined from the shape of atomic column images. (3) Scanning moire fringe imaging: The moire fringe pattern indicated the position of IDB and determine the direction of polarity. (4) Convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED): CBED was applicable for determination of the polarity in AlN at the acceleration voltage of 120 kV. Hence the polarity, direction of polarity and inversion domain boundary was determined using advanced TEM methods.
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