In-situ analysis of thin film growth using STM

Abstract

This chapter discusses the different microscopical methods for the in-situ analysis of thin film growth and the usage of scanning probe microscope. The scanning tunneling microscope is used to study the crystalline growth of the metallic and semiconducting films with atomic resolution in a wide range of temperatures. The kinetics of the thin film growth in a dilute environment is studied with diffraction experiments. The useful methods are electron diffraction with slow electrons [low energy electron diffraction (LEED)], or fast electrons using grazing incidence [reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED)]. Especially, RHEED is used for the in-situ analysis during growth as the grazing incidence of the electrons allows direct access to the substrate surface for simultaneous deposition. Monolayer oscillations in the intensity of the reflected electron beam have the ability to determine the thickness of the deposited film. When microscopy is applied in-situ directly during growth, it gives a direct view of the kinetic processes in the thin film growth. One prerequisite to study these processes is surface sensitivity of the microscopical method.