Strain relief by microroughness in surfactant-mediated growth of Ge on Si(001)

Lost in reciprocal space? Determination of the scattering condition in spot profile analysis low-energy electron diffraction

The precise knowledge of the diffraction condition, i.e., the angle of incidence and electron energy, is crucial for the study of surface morphology through spot profile analysis low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). We demonstrate four different procedures to determine the diffraction condition: employing the distortion of the LEED pattern under large angles of incidence, the layer-by-layer growth oscillations during homoepitaxial growth, a G(S) analysis of a rough surface, and the intersection of facet rods with 3D Bragg conditions.

Growth of semiconductor layers studied by spot profile analysing low energy electron diffraction – Part II 1

The universal capabilities of high resolution spot profile analysis low energy electron diffraction for in situ studies of surface morphology and surface defects will be discussed and demonstrated. The position of the diffraction spots is used to determine lateral lattice constants, step heights and the strain state of heterosystems with a precision of 0.02 Å. With the knowledge of the spot profile we could determine island and domain size distributions – even during deposition – and correlation functions of arbitrary surface defects. The variation of the spot profile with electron energy allows the evaluation of the 3dim. reciprocal space. With this the power spectrum of surface roughness, facet orientation, or step morphology of flat and vicinal surfaces could be completely characterised.