Crystallographic analysis of CVD films using x-ray polychromatic radiation

The Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffractometry (EDXD) technique was tested for in-situ crystallographic characterization of nickel films processed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The diffracted beam at low Bragg angle was analyzed in energy by a solid state detector. A nickel reference sample was used to face the problems of EDXD background signal and uncertainty of sample location. The relative accuracy on lattice parameters measurements is 1.5.10-3, to be compared to 0.5.10-3 for classical (monochromatic) X-ray diffraction. Texture measurements yields results in agreement with those obtained form recent texture goniometer. Finally, an estimation of the thickness was obtained from the intensity of nickel fluorescence peak. In view of the obtained results, EDXD appears to be a promising technique for in-situ studies. Although less powerful compared to the synchrotron facility, it is more flexible and can be applied at lower cost