A study by transmission electron microscopy of the influence of the In and N contents in the ranges of 20%–35% and 1.1%–3%, respectively, on the microstructure of Ga1–xInxNyAs1–y quantum wells was presented. Frank dislocation loops characterized as extrinsic were found in the samples with x greater than 0.25. In these structures, threading dislocations appeared as a consequence of the unfaulting of the loops for y-values above 0.014. An analysis of the density and size of the dislocation loops had provided an estimation of the critical radius for the unfaulting process. A model for this critical radius of the unfaulting process of extrinsic Frank loops was proposed. From this model and experimental values of critical radius, an estimation of the stacking fault energy of the GaInNAs alloy was made. A reduction in the stacking fault energy of the GaInNAs alloys was found upon increasing the N content from 1.4 to 2.3%; in good agreement with theoretical estimates of the stacking-fault energies of zincblende GaN and InN.

Unfaulting of Dislocation Loops in the GaInNAs Alloy - an Estimation of the Stacking Fault Energy. M.Herrera, D.González, J.G.Lozano, R.García, M.Hopkinson, H.Y.Liu, M.Gutierrez, P.Navaretti: Journal of Applied Physics, 2005, 98[2], 023521 (7pp)