Measurement of surface and sub-surface damage by x-ray scattering

Abstract

The study of surface and interface structure of thin film devices is becoming increasingly important in industrial applications today. In this thesis, the technique of grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GEXS) is developed and its validity examined for many different materials. In addition, the technique of Born wave analysis introduced by Lagally has been extended, showing that in certain cases surface roughness can be obtained without full simulations of the data. GEXS measurements performed on float glass revealed that the density of the tin and air sides were 2.7 ± 1 and 2.3 ± 1 g/cc respectively across the entire ribbon. For all samples studied a surface layer on the order of a few nanometers was in evidence. When similar measurements were made on container glass it was seen to be layer free. In addition, excellent agreement was found between the roughness deduced from the simulations and the Born wave analysis. In all samples, the surface roughness deduced from the diffuse scatter was less than that from the specular, indicating that a vertical density gradient was present. When x-ray scattering measurements were performed on CVD layers deposited on glass it was noted that two sets of Yoneda wings existed in the diffuse scatter. From these it was concluded that lateral density variations existed in the SnO(_2) layer which were on the order of 0.5mm in diameter. Furthermore, excellent specular simulations were obtained. These indicated that the control of both layer thickness and interface roughness between samples was on the Angstrom level. Specular and diffuse x-ray scattering measurements were performed on Cu/Co multilayers grown on sapphire using a Nb buffer. Here the effect of anomalous dispersion was employed in order to highlight the scattering from the Cu/Co interfaces. From these data Born wave analysis was used to characterise the roughness of the samples. It was found that little change took place for anneals of 45 minutes at temperatures up to 300 C. In addition, it would appear that the measured OMR bore no relationship to the component of uncorrelated roughness within the samples. GIXS measurements perfumed on Cu/Co multilayers grown on Si, using a Cu(_3)Si buffer, revealed an asymmetry in the diffuse scatter, which was attributed to terracing within the layers. Simulations were obtained to the data using a slight modification of the fractal model for several scattering vectors with a single set of parameters. From this, a model of step bunching has been proposed which allows the diffuse scatter to be described using such a fractal surface. Diffuse x-ray scattering studies performed on Al(_2)O(_3), which had been ground in different ways, indicted that the surface density as measured from the Yoneda wings followed the bearing area as measured from optical techniques. Comparisons performed between these results and those from optical microscopy and surface acoustic wave techniques allowed a model to be proposed which was consistent with all the findings. Finally, GIXS measurements were performed on GaAs which had been subjected to various polishing techniques. Simulations revealed that a nanometer scale surface layer was present on all samples. Born wave analysis was successfully applied to the diffuse scatter and the effect of surface layers on the deduced roughness was investigated. In addition, symmetric and asymmetric triple axis diffraction studies revealed that the distribution of strains was independent of the type of polishing used whereas the tilts were not. A model has been proposed in which the surface consists of unstrained mosaic blocks separated by cracks.