Method · XRR
X-ray reflectivity in the Netherlands
Thin-film layer thickness, density, and interface or surface roughness from specular X-ray reflectivity. What it answers, what it cannot establish on its own, what a laboratory will ask, and how many Dutch facilities publish it.
What it answers
- How thick is each layer of a thin-film stack, from about a nanometre to a few hundred nanometres?
- What are the density of a layer and the roughness of its interfaces?
- Did a deposition or annealing step change thickness or density?
What it cannot establish alone
Before you contact a laboratory
What a laboratory will ask.
A laboratory can say whether it can help only when these are known. Unknowns are fine; say so.
A question a laboratory can answer
We deposit a nominal 40 nm silicon nitride film on 25 mm silicon wafers. We want thickness, density and roughness for three wafers from different runs, fitted with a two-layer model.
Potential Dutch facilities
3 facilities publish XRR capability in Enschede and Delft.
Leads are based on published capabilities; current suitability and availability must be confirmed with the laboratory.
Describe your sample and question. The first answer is free and needs no account; laboratory names are shown in a free workspace.
Often combined with
- Atomic force microscopyNanoscale surface topography and roughness with probe-mode-dependent property mapping.
- X-ray diffractionCrystalline phase, structure, texture, and strain by X-ray diffraction.
Problems where it helps
- Thin-film thickness: choosing a measurementEllipsometry, X-ray reflectivity or a cross-section? How film type, thickness range and stack decide the measurement, and what to prepare.