A method of using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) together with resolved grazing incidence geometry for depth profiling atomic, electronic, chemical or magnetic local structures in thin films is presented. The quantitative deconvolution of thickness-dependent spectral features is performed by fully considering both scattering and absorption formalisms. Surface oxidation and local structural depth profiles in nanometric FePt films are determined, exemplifying the application of the method.
We theoretically address grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD) for H atoms impinging on a LiF(001) surface. Our model combines a description of the H-LiF(001) interaction obtained from Density Functional Theory calculations with a semi-quantum treatment of the dynamics. We analyze simulated diffraction patterns in terms of the incidence channel, the impact energy associated with the motion normal to the surface, and the relevance of Van der Waals (VdW) interactions. We then contrast our simulations with experimental patterns for different incidence conditions. Our most important find…
We experimentally discovered that Al2O3 and MgO exhibit well-pronounced nanometric modifications on the surfaces when irradiated under grazing incidence with 23 MeV I beam, in contrast to normal incidence irradiation with the same ion beam when no damage was found. Moreover, ions in these two materials produce notably different structures: grooves surrounded with nanohillocks on MgO surfaces vs. smoother, roll-like discontinuous structures on the surfaces of Al2O3. To explain these results, detailed numerical simulations were performed. We identified that a presence of the surface inhibits rec…
X-ray fluorescence induced by standing waves in the grazing-incidence and grazing-exit modes: study of the Mg--Co--Zr system
我们提出了表征Mg-Co-Zr三层堆栈通过使用X射线驻波诱导的X射线荧光，无论是在掠入射（GI）和掠出射（GE）模式。在检测器方向上引入狭缝将角分辨率提高了2倍，并显著提高了用于掩埋界面的化学表征的技术的灵敏度。通过观察Mg K α和Co L α特征发射的强度变化作为入射角（GI模式）或检测角（GE模式）的函数，我们表明Si/[Mg/Co/Zr] x30多层膜的界面是突变的，而在Si/[Mg/Zr/Co] x30多层膜中，在Co-on-Zr界面处发生强烈的混合。通过对Co-Mg、Co-Zr和Mg-Zr系混合能谱的计算，解释了Co-on-Zr和Zr-on-Co界面的这种相反行为，表明Co-Zr系为负值，其余两个为正值。连同Zr和Co的表面自由能的差异，这导致我们将Mg/Zr/Co系统视为aMg/CoxZry双层堆叠，其中x/y估计为约3.5。
The diffraction of fast atoms at grazing incidence on crystal surfaces (GIFAD) was first interpreted only in terms of elastic diffraction from a perfectly periodic rigid surface with atoms fixed at equilibrium position. Recently, a new approach have been proposed, referred here as the quantum binary collision model (QBCM). The QBCM takes into account both the elastic and inelastic momentum transfer via the Lamb-Dicke probability. It suggests that the shape of the inelastic diffraction profiles are log-normal distributions with a variance proportional to the nuclear energy loss deposited on the…
Grazing incidence anomalous x-ray scattering was used to monitor in situ the molecular beam epitaxy growth of GaN/AlN quantum dots (QDs). The strain state was studied by means of grazing incidence Multi-wavelength Anomalous Di raction (MAD) in both the QDs and the AlN during the progressive coverage of QDs by AlN monolayers. Vertical correlation in the position of the GaN QDs was also studied by both grazing incidence MAD and anomalous Grazing Incidence Small Angle Scattering (GISAXS) as a function of the number of GaN planes and of the AlN spacer thickness. In a regime where the GaN QDs and t…
Grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD, or FAD) has developed as a surface sensitive technique. GIFAD is less sensitive to thermal decoherence but more demanding in terms of surface coherence, the mean distance between defects. Such high quality surfaces can be obtained from freshly cleaved crystals or in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) chamber where a GIFAD setup has been installed allowing in situ operation. Based on recent publications by Atkinson et al. and Debiossac et al, the paper describes in detail the basic steps needed to measure the relative intensities of the diffraction sp…
Atomic Structure of Amorphous Optical Coatings of TiO$_2$-doped GeO$_2$ by Grazing-Incidence Total X-ray Scattering Measurements
Kennesaw State University（肯尼索州立大学）；Northeastern University（东北大学）；Sungkyunkwan University（成均馆大学）；Colorado State University（科罗拉多州立大学）；Université de Montréal（蒙特利尔大学）；Stanford University（斯坦福大学）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；Xerion Advanced Battery Corp.（Xerion先进电池公司）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）
The effect produced by surface defects on grazing-incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD) patterns is studied by considering the presence of terraces in a LiF(001) sample. For helium atoms impinging along the <110> direction of the LiF surface, we analyze the influence of a monolayer terrace with its edge oriented parallel or perpendicular to the axial channel. We found that the presence of an outward transverse step introduces a diffuse background above the Laue circle, which displays additional peaked structures. For inward transverse steps, instead, such a background is placed below the Lau…
Absence of Structural Impact of Noble Nanoparticles on P3HT: PCBM Blends for Plasmon Enhanced Bulk-Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells Probed by Synchrotron Grazing Incidence X-Ray Diffraction
Pentacene is known to grow on isotropic silicon oxide surfaces in a substrate-induced phase with fiber textured crystallites. This growth study reports on the growth of pentacene crystallites on uniaxially oriented surfaces. Silica substrates have been treated by ion beam sputtering so that ripples with a lateral corrugation length of 38 nm and a surface roughness of 1.3 nm are formed. Pentacene thin films with a nominal thickness in the range from 20 nm up to 300 nm are deposited on top of the rippled surfaces. The films are characterized by atomic force microscopy and grazing incidence X-ray…
Structure of amorphous nangranular composite (Co$_{86}$Nb$_{12}$Ta$_2$)$_x$(SiO$_2$)$_{1-x}$ films was studied by means of grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering as a function of atomic concentration $x$ of the metal fraction in vicinity of the percolation threshold. It has been established that the average size of magnetic nanoparticles increases with $x$ and this increment exhibit the anisotropic character. It was found that in a whole concentration range the particles are elongated along the growth direction perpendicular to the film plane. For the lowest concentration $x=0.193$ clu…
Grazing-incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD) is an exceptionally sensitive method for surface analysis, which can be applied not only at room temperature but also at higher temperatures. In this work we use the He-LiF(001) system as benchmark to study the influence of temperature on GIFAD patterns from insulator surfaces. Our theoretical description is based on the Phonon-Surface Initial Value Representation (P0-SIVR) approximation, which is a semiquantum approach that includes the phonon contribution to the elastic scattering. Within the P0-SIVR approach the main features introduced by the…
Electroactive polymer thin films undergo repeated reversible structural change during operation in electrochemical applications. While synchrotron X-ray scattering is powerful for the characterization of stand-alone and ex-situ organic thin films, in situ structural characterization has been underutilized--in large part due to complications arising from supporting electrolyte scattering. This has greatly hampered the development of application relevant structure property relationships. Therefore, we have developed a new methodology for in situ and operando X-ray characterization that separates…
By using a zone-casting derivative method it is possible to create well-aligned 200 nm thin films of tetracyano platinate crystal wires, which cover more than 50% of the surface of the substrate. The aligned crystal wires deviate only slightly from the casting direction and can each exceed 100 um in length. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction shows a 3.5 Å periodicity corresponding to the intrachain Pt-Pt distance found in single crystals and a 110 (crystal) orientation along the surface normal.
