Domain boundaries in ScAlMgO4 single crystal observed by synchrotron radiation x-ray topography and reticulography

Abstract

We performed synchrotron radiation x-ray topography (XRT) and reticulography to observe dislocations and crystal misorientation at domain boundaries (DBs) in a scandium magnesium aluminate single-crystal substrate grown via the Czochralski method. By inserting a fine-scale x-ray-absorbing mesh between the sample and the topograph-recording medium, reticulography was clearly observed allowing for direct measurement of twist and tile domain misorientation >5 × 10−5 rad. The results show that the angular resolution can be further improved to better than 2 × 10−5 rad by applying a different mesh-to-film distance M and then comparing the relative displacement in their reticulographs. The character of dislocations aligning at the DBs revealed by XRT analysis is consistent with the reticulography results. Finally, we demonstrate a method that combines reticulography and XRT into a single reticulographic XRT image, from which dislocation observation and misorientation measurement can be performed simultaneously.