Investigation of superlattice period inhomogeneity using quantitative synchrotron diffraction topography

The development of a novel and simple method for the measurement of the structure parameter inhomogeneity of semiconductor superlattices using X-ray and synchrotron topography is presented. The qualitative observation of the diffraction contour behavior with the specimen rotation around the Bragg axis permits us to indicate the directions of extreme superlattice period distortions for the chosen specimen area. The investigation is performed for the AlAsAlGaAs superlattice, and the values of the extreme period distortions are calculated.