Determination of epitaxial overlayer structures from high-energy electron scattering and diffraction

Abstract

Angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron and Auger data recently obtained by Egelhoff from epitaxially grown Cu on a Ni(001) substrate are analyzed with the use of a single-scattering cluster model. The intensity variations as a function of polar angle are well reproduced by this model, and it permits an analysis of the single-atom origins of the observed peaks. Forward scattering from the first few spheres of neighbors is found to dominate at energies of ≳900 eV, thus providing detailed information on the early stages of epitaxial growth.