RHEED from epitaxially grown thin films

It is shown that dynamical theory can be applied to analyze reflection high energy diffraction (RHEED) data from epitaxially grown samples. First, the theoretical description of the dynamical approach employed is presented in detail. Then examples of experimental data successfully interpreted are gi ven. It is demonstrated that RHEED azimuthal plots may be helpful in gainin g detailed information on the arrangement of atoms at the surface when the growth of samples is terminated. Furthermore, it is shown that RHEED oscill ations recorded for one-beam conditions (i.e. at off-symmetry azimuths or a t very low glancing angles) may be very useful in investigating growing sur faces. Finally, we discuss how the theoretical approach used in this work i s related to approaches employed by other researchers, and what kind of inv estigations may help to develop RHEED further.