Determining substrate orientation using a high-resolution diffractometer

There is an increasing interest in growing semiconductor structures on vicinal surfaces to take advantage of the growth characteristics of the stepped surfaces. This paper addresses the problem of determining the exact surface orientation of wafers using the X-ray diffraction equipment designed for analysis of semiconductor heteroepitaxial structures. It is demonstrated that orientations can be measured within 0.01 degrees, which is comparable to the flatness of typical InP wafers. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.