Standard-free composition measurements of AlxIn1-xN by low-loss electron energy loss spectroscopy

We demonstrate a standard-free method to retrieve compositional information in AlxIn1-xN thin films by measuring the bulk plasmon energy (E-p), employing electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Two series of samples were grown by magnetron sputter epitaxy (MSE) and metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), which together cover the full compositional range 0 <= x <= 1. Complementary compositional measurements were obtained using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and the lattice parameters were obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD). It is shown that E-p follows a linear relation with respect to composition and lattice parameter between the alloying elements from AlN to InN allowing for straightforward compositional analysis. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim