SURFACE-ANALYSIS BY MEANS OF REFLECTION, FLUORESCENCE AND DIFFUSE-SCATTERING OF HARD X-RAY

Layered structures play a fundamental role in modern technology. The characterization of these layers includes their composition, composition profile and their geometry. The structure of external and internal interfaces is of special interest. At grazing incidence, all X-ray techniques become surface and interface sensitive. This is the basis for a number of novel analytical tools which will be presented in this paper: X-ray reflection, fluorescence and diffuse scattering. Analytical expressions for these three quantities are given. The influence of interface roughness is included. The information obtained from these techniques is the thickness of the layers, their density, the interface roughness both perpendicular and parallel to the interface, and the depth profile of the individual atomic species. A number of examples will illustrate the capability of the techniques. Comparisons with results from other techniques will show their advantages and drawbacks.