High resolution x-ray diffractometry of the structural characteristics of a semiconducting (InGa)As/GaAs superlattice

A statistical approach is used to construct a kinematic theory of x-ray dif fraction on a semiconducting superlattice with a two layer period. This the ory takes two types of structural deformations into account: crystal lattic e defects caused by microdefects distributed chaotically over the thickness of the superlattice, and periodicity defects of an additional superlattice potential owing to random deviations in the thicknesses of the layers of i ts period from specified values. Numerical simulation is used to illustrate the effect of structural defects on the development of the diffraction ref lection curve. The theory is used to analyze experimental x-ray diffraction spectra of semiconducting InxGa1-xAs/GaAs superlattices. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7842(99)00902-2].