EFFECT OF THE FORM OF THE HEIGHT-HEIGHT CORRELATION-FUNCTION ON DIFFUSE-X-RAY SCATTERING FROM A SELF-AFFINE SURFACE

Height-height correlations for self-affine surfaces with finite horizo ntal cutoffs are generally modeled by exponential forms. Three mathema tically acceptable, alternate forms for the height-height correlation function are investigated, to explore their impact on the analysis of diffuse x-ray-reflectivity data. The appropriateness of these function s to actual physical samples is explored through comparison with x-ray -reflectivity and scanning-tunneling-microscopy data recorded on known self-affine surfaces.