Imaging dislocations in gallium nitride across broad areas using atomic force microscopy

We have employed an atomic force microscope with a high sampling rate to image GaN samples grown using an epitaxial layer overgrowth technique and treated with silane and ammonia to enlarge the surface pits associated with threading dislocations (TDs). This allows TDs to be identified in high pixel density images tens of microns in size providing detailed information about the spatial distribution of the TDs. An automated software tool has been developed, which identifies the coordinates of the TDs in the image. Additionally, we have imaged the same sample using Kelvin probe force microscopy, again at high pixel density, providing data about the local changes in surface potential associated with hundreds of dislocations. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi :10.1063/1.3430539]