The Development of Instrumentation for Thin-Film X-ray Diffraction
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Tom Ryan [1]
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[1] Emcore Corporation, United States
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- Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 78, Nº 5, 2001, pág. 613
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Almost all of the major advances in understanding the interaction of X-rays with crystalline matter were made in the early part of the 20th century. By the 1970s, every crystallography laboratory had a single-crystal diffractometer, and powder diffraction was the de facto standard method for phase identification in polycrystalline materials. In the eyes of many people, XRD was a mature business. However, in the 1970s and '80s, a number of external factors conspired to stimulate a period of rapid and highly productive developments in XRD instrumentation that continues to the present day. Among those factors was the increasing use of thin films in technologies as varied as semiconductors, optoelectronics, recording media, optical coatings, and mechanical surface treatments. The electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of thin films are intimately linked to their crystalline structure--and X-ray diffraction turns out to be a powerful characterization tool. However, the need to work with films at thin as 10 nanometers posed new challenges for instrumentation designers. In this review we will look at the characterization needs posed by the new thin-film technologies and see how the X-ray diffraction industry has reacted to fulfill those needs.
