Probing surface and interface morphology with Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-Ray Scattering

Most of the GISAXS measurements published to date are reported, covering the fields of ex situ studies of embedded metallic nanoparticles, granular multilayered systems, implanted systems, embedded or stacked or deposited semi-conductor nanostructures, porous materials and copolymer thin films. A special emphasis is brought on in situ experiments, performed either in ultra-high vacuum during nanoparticle growth by molecular beam epitaxy, or in gas-reactors during catalytic reactions. This covers a very broad field, from (i) the 3D island (Volmer-Weber) growth of metals on oxides surfaces to (ii) the organized growth of metals on surfaces that are nanopatterned either by surface reconstruction or by underlying dislocation networks or by deposit-induced nanofacetting, to (iii) the in situ investigation of the self-organized Stranski-Krastanow hetero-epitaxial growth of semi-conductor quantum dots on semi-conductor surfaces, or (iv) the in situ surface nanopatterning by ion bombardment. Many examples are discussed in detail, to illustrate the large diversity of systems and morphologies that can be addressed as well as the different analysis issues and the conclusions of the technique in terms of growth mode.