Local atomic structure of thin and ultrathin films <i>via</i> rapid high-energy X-ray total scattering at grazing incidence.

ABSTRACT: Atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis is the most powerful technique to study the structure of condensed matter on the length scale from short- to long-range order. Today, the PDF approach is an integral part of research on amorphous, nanocrystalline and disordered materials from bulk to nanoparticle size. Thin films, however, demand specific experimental strategies for enhanced surface sensitivity and sophisticated data treatment to obtain high-quality PDF data. The approach described here is based on the surface high-energy X-ray diffraction technique applying photon energies above 60 keV at grazing incidence. In this way, reliable PDFs were extracted from films of thicknesses down to a few nanometres. Compared with recently published reports on thin-film PDF analysis from bot

SUBMITTER: Dippel AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6400183 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature