Refraction distortion

Illustration of GISAXS refraction distortion. The reciprocal-space scattering is a hexagonal array of peaks. However, these peaks are both shifted, and compressed/stretched along q_z, due to refraction. This effect is especially pronounced near the Yoneda (orange line).

In GISAXS, GIWAXS, and other grazing-incidence techniques, the refractive index difference between the film and the ambient causes the incident and scattered x-ray beams to be refracted. This extent of refraction depends on the incident and exit angles. Thus, the data that appears on an area detector in a grazing-incidence experiment is non-linearly distorted. This makes data interpretation more problematic.

Mathematics

The GISAXS refraction distortion shifts the data along $\scriptstyle q_{z}$, leaving $\scriptstyle q_{x}$ unaffected. The amount of the shift is given by:

${\begin{alignedat}{2}\Delta q_{z}&=q_{z}-q_{z}^{\prime }\\q'_{z}&=k_{0}\left({\sqrt {\sin \alpha _{i}^{2}-\sin \alpha _{ct}^{2}}}+{\sqrt {\sin \alpha _{f}^{2}-\sin \alpha _{ct}^{2}}}\right)\\&=k_{0}\left({\sqrt {\sin \alpha _{i}^{2}-\sin \alpha _{ct}^{2}}}+{\sqrt {\left({\frac {q_{z}}{k_{0}}}-\sin \alpha _{i}\right)^{2}-\sin \alpha _{ct}^{2}}}\right)\end{alignedat}}$

Where $\scriptstyle \alpha _{i}$ is the incident angle, and $\scriptstyle \alpha _{ct}$ is the critical angle of the film.

Figure from Lu. et al. (doi: 10.1107/S0021889812047887 J. of Appl. Cryst. 2013, 46, 165) showing the amount of distortion along q_z, for different conditions.

Refraction Correction

When computing theoretical scattering patterns, one must account for the refraction correction. The correction is essentially an application of Snell's law, where one using the x-ray refractive index for ambient ($\scriptstyle n_{a}$), the thin film ($\scriptstyle n_{f}$), and the substrate ($\scriptstyle n_{s}$).

• Byeongdu Lee, Insun Park, Jinhwan Yoon, Soojin Park, Jehan Kim, Kwang-Woo Kim, Taihyun Chang, and Moonhor Ree Structural Analysis of Block Copolymer Thin Films with Grazing Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Macromolecules 2005, 38 (10), 4311-4323. doi: 10.1021/ma047562d
• P. Busch, M. Rauscher, D.-M. Smilgies, D. Posselt and C. M. Papadakis Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering from thin polymer films with lamellar structures - the scattering cross section in the distorted-wave Born approximation J. Appl. Cryst. 2006, 39, 433-442. doi: 10.1107/S0021889806012337
• Rémi Lazzari, Frédéric Leroy, and Gilles Renaud Grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering from dense packing of islands on surfaces: Development of distorted wave Born approximation and correlation between particle sizes and spacing Phys. Rev. B 2007, 76, 125411. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.76.125411
• D. W. Breiby, O. Bunk, J. W. Andreasen, H. T. Lemke and M. M. Nielsen Simulating X-ray diffraction of textured films J. Appl. Cryst. 2008, 41, 262-271. doi: 10.1107/S0021889808001064
• Lu, X.; Yager, K.G.; Johnston, D.; Black, C.T.; Ocko, B.M. Grazing-incidence transmission X-ray scattering: surface scattering in the Born approximation Journal of Applied Crystallography 2013, 46, 165–172. doi: 10.1107/S0021889812047887

See Also

• DWBA
• Simulating X-ray diffraction of textured films D. W. Breiby, O. Bunk, J. W. Andreasen, H. T. Lemke and M. M. Nielsen J. Appl. Cryst. 2008, 41, 262-271. doi: 10.1107/S0021889808001064
• Indexation scheme for oriented molecular thin films studied with grazing-incidence reciprocal-space mapping D.-M. Smilgies and D. R. Blasini J. Appl. Cryst. 2007, 40, 716-718. doi: 10.1107/S0021889807023382
• Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering from thin polymer films with lamellar structures - the scattering cross section in the distorted-wave Born approximation P. Busch, M. Rauscher, D.-M. Smilgies, D. Posselt and C. M. Papadakis J. Appl. Cryst. 2006, 39, 433-442. doi: 10.1107/S0021889806012337