Comparison of interface structure of thin miscible films by grazing incidence x-ray scattering and high-resolution electron microscopy

Grazing incidence x-ray scattering and cross-sectional high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) have been applied to the study of thin trilayers of the miscible system Co-Cr-Co grown by ultra-high vacuum evaporation on silicon. Good agreement was found between numerical values for layer thickness deduced by the two techniques. The Co-Cr interface roughness was found to be low with substantial interdiffusion, significantly greater than the roughness amplitude. HREM images confirmed the diffuseness of the interfaces. The roughness had a lateral correlation length of typically 150 Å and a very low fractal parameter h of 0.15. The correlation length was always found to correspond to the lateral grain size observed in the HREM images.