In situ studies of epitaxial growth by synchrotron X-ray diffraction

X-rays are ideal to study the structure of crystals due to their weak interaction with matter and in most cases allow a quantitative analysis using kinematical theory. To study the incorporation of atoms during crystal growth and to analyze the kinetics on the crystal surface high primary beam intensities available at synchrotrons are required. Our studies of the molecular beam epitaxy growth of III-V semiconductors reveal that, despite their similarity in crystal structure, the surface kinetics of GaAs(001), InAs(001) and GaSb(001) differ strongly. GaAs shows an unexpectedly large coarsening exponent outside the predicted range of Ostwald ripening models during recovery. GaSb exhibits dramatically different surface morphology variations during growth and recovery. Overgrowth of GaAs by epitaxial MnAs demonstrates the ability of X-ray diffraction to follow an interface as it is buried during heteroepitaxy, which is not possible by reflection high-energy electron diffraction.