Electron tomography on nanopores embedded in epitaxial GaSb thin films

• Nanopores in MBE grown III-Sb layer stacks on Si(0 0 1) have been revealed.
• FIB preparation has been applied to isolate pores in a needle-shaped sample.
• The 3D pore morphology is determined by electron tomography.
• {1 1 0} and {1 0 0} facets dominate the shape of the pore.

This work reports on the morphology of nanopores and their spatial position in group III-Sb based multilayer heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si(0 0 1) substrates. By using electron tomography based on dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy, quantitative information in real space is obtained about individual nanopores unintentionally embedded in GaSb layers. For this purpose adequate needle-shaped samples have to be specifically prepared from the compact material system by focused ion beam. The three-dimensional reconstruction of the probed volume allows the determination of the spatial arrangement of the pores and the analysis of the detailed shape, i.e. the crystallographic facets. Based on these results, the nanopore's geometric shape is discussed with respect to the minimization of surface tension. The formation process can be explained by an agglomeration of vacancies which are generated during the heterostructure growth.