Interfacial defects in thin refractory metal films imaged by low-energy electron microscopy

Low-energy electron microscopy is employed to image defects at buried interfaces through the strains they cause at the front surface. The interfacial defects studied here occur in high quality films of Mo(110) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Al2O3(11 bar 20). The defects include steps and inclusions on the original sapphire surface and interfacial dislocations created where epitaxial strain causes slip. copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics