摘要： A detailed analysis on the quality and microstructure of various metal/semiconductor superlattices employing HR(S)/TEM (high-resolution (scanning)/transmission electron microscopy) imaging and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) mapping on as-deposited and annealed samples is presented. Epitaxial metal/semiconductor superlattices are known to be promising candidates for compounds in electronic, photonic, and plasmonic devices, but are also of interest for applications as hard coatings, and in thermoelectric materials [1]. The crystalline quality of the superlattices, in terms of their defect density, phase purity, interface roughness, and stoichiometry of the individual layers, plays a crucial role with respect to the physical properties and thus the applicability of such superlattice stacks. It was recently shown that metal/semiconductor superlattices based on (Al,Sc)N as the semiconductor component can be grown epitaxially with low-defect densities by magnetron sputtering on [001]MgO substrates [2]. Phase formation and thermal stability studies of as-deposited and long-time annealed cubic TiN/(Al,Sc)N superlattices employing a combination of HR(S)/TEM and EDX mapping revealed intermixing of the TiN and (Al,Sc)N layers by interdiffusion of the metal atoms with increased annealing time [3]. Improved (Ti,W)N/(Al,Sc)N [4] and (Hf,Zr)N/ScN [5] superlattices were grown by magnetron sputtering and analyzed with various TEM methods, and their microstructural evolution as well as thermal stability becomes presented here. An example is show in Figure 1, which shows an overview of an improved cubic (Ti,W)N/(Al,Sc)N superlattice stack in cross-section STEM (a), and a typical HRTEM micrograph of the metal/semiconductor interface region, demonstrating the high epitaxial quality of the growth [4]. Figure 2 demonstrates the superior thermal stability of the (Zr,Hf)N- based systems as compared to previous TiN- based superlattices. EDX mapping at high-resolution before and after annealing at 950 °C for 120 hours reveals diffusion of the metal atoms in the TiN/AlScN system (b), while the Hf0.5Zr0.5N/ScN superlattice stays intact (d). All experiments were conducted at Link?ping’s image- and probe-corrected and monochromated FEI Titan3 60-300 microscope equipped with a Gatan Quantum ERS GIF, high-brightness XFEG source, and Super-X EDX detector, operated at 300 kV [6].