Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Committee Chair

David Lederman.

Abstract

The use of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) for in-situ chemical analysis of a sample surface using an electron gun for reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) analysis has been studied by many groups and the technique is usually referred to as RHEED-total-refection-angle x-ray spectroscopy (RHEED-TRAXS), as the angle for x-ray detection was set close to the angle of total internal reflection.;In the current work, RHEED-TRAXS was developed as a thin film structural characterization technique based on the principles similar to the analysis of a multilayered structure by angular-dependent total-reflection x-rays. Initial experiments utilizing the technique for relative compositional analysis have also been discussed.;Utilizing RHEED-TRAXS as a structural and compositional analysis technique has numerous benefits. In-situ determination of thickness and roughness of film(s) yields information that could be destroyed due to atmospheric exposure and compositional analysis can be used to study and control the growth parameters.;Since a RHEED electron beam gun is a common feature on MBE systems, the addition of a relatively inexpensive x-ray detector on a translation stage adds the capability of exhaustive in-situ analysis where growth parameters can be studied and controlled to a greater degree.

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