Characterization of Thin Films by Low Incidence X-Ray Diffraction

Abstract

Glancing Angle X-ray Diffraction (GAXRD) is introduced as a direct, non-destructive, surface-sensitive technique for analysis of thin films. The method was applied to polycrystalline thin films (namely, titanium oxide, zinc selenide, cadmium selenide and combinations thereof) obtained by electrochemical growth, in order to determine the composition of ultra-thin surface layers, to estimate film thickness, and perform depth profiling of multilayered heterostructures. The experimental data are treated on the basis of a simple absorption-diffraction model involving the glancing angle of X-ray incidence.

Share and Cite:

Bouroushian, M. and Kosanovic, T. (2012) Characterization of Thin Films by Low Incidence X-Ray Diffraction. Crystal Structure Theory and Applications, 1, 35-39. doi: 10.4236/csta.2012.13007.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] M. Nauer, K. Ernst, W. Kautek and M. Neumann-Spallart, “Depth Profile Characterization of Electrodeposited MultiThin-Film Structures by Low Angle of Incidence X-Ray Diffractometry,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 489, No. 1-2, 2005, pp. 86-93. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2005.05.008
[2] K. Wang, C. Steimer, D. Wamwangi, S. Ziegler and M. Wuttig, “Effect of Indium Doping on Ge2Sb2Te5 Thin Films for Phase-Change Optical Storage,” Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing, Vol. 80, No. 8, 2005, pp. 1611-1616. doi:10.1007/s00339-005-3232-2
[3] P. Colombi, P. Zanola, E. Bontempi, R. Roberti, M. Gelfi and L. E. Depero, “Glancing-Incidence X-Ray Diffraction for Depth Profiling of Polycrystalline Layers,” Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 39, Part 2, 2006, pp. 176- 179. doi:10.1107/S0021889805042779
[4] S. Debnath, P. Predecki and R. Suryanarayanan, “Use of Glancing Angle X-Ray Powder Diffractometry to Depth-Profile Phase Transformations during Dissolution of Indomethacin and Theophylline Tablets,” Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2004, pp. 149-159. doi:10.1023/B:PHAM.0000012163.89163.f8
[5] A. A. Williams, J. M. C. Thornton, J. E. Macdonald, R. G. Vansilfhout, J. F. Vanderveen, M. S. Finney, A. D. Johnson and C. Norris, “Strain Relaxation during the Initial Stages of Growth in Ge/Si(001),” Physical Review B, Vol. 43, No. 6, 1991, pp. 5001-5011. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.43.5001
[6] T. Kosanovic, D. Karoussos and M. Bouroushian, “CdSe Electrodeposition on Anodic, Barrier or Porous Ti Oxides. A Sensitization Effect,” Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2010, pp. 241-248. doi:10.1007/s10008-009-0806-5
[7] M. Bouroushian, T. Kosanovic and N. Spyrellis, “Oriented ZnSe Electrodeposits Grown on Polycrystalline CdSe Substrates,” Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 277, No. 1-4, 2005, pp. 335-344. doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2005.01.053
[8] K. Leitner, J. W. Schultze and U. Stimming, “Photoelectrochemical Investigations of Passive Films on Titanium Electrodes,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 133, No. 8, 1986, pp. 1561-1568. doi:10.1149/1.2108969

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.