STANDING-WAVE EFFECTS IN GRAZING-INCIDENCE X-RAY DIFFRACTION FROM POLYCRYSTALLINE MULTILAYERS

J. Krčmář¹, V. Holý^2,1, L. Horák², T. H. Metzger³, and J. Sobota⁴

¹Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Masaryk University, Koltářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic

²Department of Physics of Electronic Structures, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 5, 121 16 Prague, Czech Republic

³European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, 38043 Grenoble, France

⁴Institute of Scientific Instruments v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 147, 612 64 Brno, Czech Republic

In a non-coplanar grazing-incidence geometry of diffraction from a polycrystalline periodic multilayer, the diffracted intensity is modulated by a standing wave created by the interference of the radiation transmitted through the multilayer stack with the wave field specularly reflected from the superlattice interfaces. Similarly, the radiation being diffracted from the polycrystalline structure is reflected specularly from the interfaces and a standing-wave interference pattern results as well. This paper shows a series of experimental measurements obtained from C/Ni periodic multilayers demonstrating this effect. The experimental data have been modeled using a theoretical approach based on the distorted-wave Born approximation. The method can be used for a study of the profiles of the grain sizes and strains across the multilayer.

Full paper sent for publication in Materials Structure