Strain measurement of ultrathin epitaxial films using electron diffraction techniques

Abstract

Many diffraction and imaging techniques have been developed and used to measure the strains in epitaxial films with different degrees of accuracy. In this tutorial, we will focus on measurements of strains in epitaxial films using electron diffraction techniques. These include reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), azimuthal reflection high-energy electron diffraction, low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and high-resolution low-energy electron diffraction techniques. These diffraction techniques are surface sensitive and are suitable for in situ measurements of strains in ultrathin epitaxial films quantitatively. In particular, RHEED and LEED are simple to operate and readily available in many laboratories. We discuss the instrument limit of strain measurement in each technique. A nominal definition of the resolving power of an instrument to resolve a strain state is given as the percentage of intrinsic instrumental broadening in the reciprocal unit with respect to the first reciprocal Brillouin zone (2π/lattice constant) of a sample. It is shown that the resolving power of these diffraction techniques ranges from 2% to 0.2%. Experimental strategies without modifying the instrument and to achieve a strain detection capability beyond the definition of the nominal resolving power of these techniques are presented.