Practical Electron Microscopy and Database

The spatial resolution of cathodoluminescence (CL) technique only depends on minority carrier diffusion length [1] if no electric field is built in the local irradiation region. However, the electron beam can generate a local electrical potential that causes an internal current flow and then affects the resolution, for instance, in some structures such as p-n junctions and grain boundaries.

The reported resolution of cathodoluminescence technique is 10 nm for InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well structures [2].

[1] A. Gustafsson, M.E. Pistol, L.Montelius, L. Samuelson: Local probe techniques for luminescence studies of low-dimensional semiconductor structures, J. Appl. Phys. 84 (1998) 1715.
[2] J. Bruckbauer, P.R. Edwards, T. Wang, R.W. Martin: High resolution cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging of surface features in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well structures, Appl. Phys. Lett. 98 (2011) 141908.