STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A CUO MGO ARTIFICIALLY SUPERSTRUCTUREDFILM BY THE X-RAY-DIFFRACTION METHOD/

A CuO/MgO epitaxial artificially superstructured film [CuO(50 angstrom )/MgO(40 angstrom)]40 was successfully grown and its structure was stu died by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The film was found to have a texture in which the (111) planes of monoclinic CuO and the (001) planes of cu bic MgO were layered perpendicular to the film plane. Its lateral stru cture was revealed by precession photographs where the CuO [101BAR] ax is is oriented approximately along the MgO [100] axis in the film plan e. The XRD pattern, observed over a wide range of scattering vectors p erpendicular to the film plane, was carefully analyzed by ai extended step model. The fluctuation of the superlattice period was estimated t o be as small as 1 angstrom.