Grazing-incidence X-Ray Analysis of Surfaces and Thin Films

Abstract Grazing-incidence X-ray analysis techniques which are commonly used for the nondestructive characterization of surfaces and thin films are reviewed. The X-ray reflectivity technicue is used to study surface uniformity and oxidation, layer thickness and density, interface roughness and diffusion, etc. The grazing-incidence in-plane diffraction technique is used to determine in-plane crystallography of epitaxial films. The grazing-incidence asymmetric-Bragg diffraction is used for surface phase identification and structural depth profiling determination of polycrystalline films. Typical examples to illustrate the types of information that can be obtained by the techniques are presented.