GIXRD

GIXRD stands for Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction. It is a powerful X-ray scattering technique used to study the structure of thin films and surfaces. Unlike conventional X-ray diffraction, which probes the bulk of a material, GIXRD utilizes a very low angle of incidence for the X-ray beam, typically between 0.1 and 2 degrees. This low angle causes the X-ray beam to reflect off the surface and only penetrate a short distance into the sample.

The shallow penetration depth means that GIXRD is highly sensitive to the crystalline structure of the outermost layers, often probing only the top few nanometers or tens of nanometers. This makes it ideal for analyzing thin films, coatings, interfaces, and other surface phenomena that are not easily accessible by other diffraction methods.

The data collected from a GIXRD experiment can reveal information about the crystallographic orientation, lattice parameters, phase purity, and texture of the thin film. By varying the incident angle, researchers can also obtain depth-resolved structural information, allowing them to study the evolution of structure as a function of depth within the film. GIXRD is widely employed in materials science, semiconductor research, and nanotechnology for characterizing a variety of materials, including metals, ceramics, polymers, and organic molecules in thin film form.