A new technique for studying extended defects and dislocation
networks is proposed. The approach, based upon the continuum theory
of crystal defects, is employed for digital image processing of
high-resolution transmission electron micrographs. The procedure
starts with the geometric phase method for extracting the lattice
distortion field near dislocation cores. Next, the dislocation core
distribution (DCD) is recovered from the lattice distortion field.
A so-obtained DCD field takes non-zero values only in disordered
regions of the lattice. The accuracy of this method is investigated
by mathematical integration of the dislocation field over core
regions to find the in-plane components of the Burgers vectors. The
proposed method is free of topological problems and can be used to
study spatial configurations of complex defects in large crystal
areas by using a fully automatic computer program. This approach is
applied to investigate a network of misfit dislocations in the
interfacial region of a GaAs/ZnTe/CdTe heterostructure.
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