Analysis of Diffraction Line Broadening from Orientated Thin Films

Abstract

THERE has been some interest over the past decade in the interpretation of the breadth of diffraction lines obtained from thin films1–4. Usually it is assumed that the diffraction broadening arises solely from particle size and strain. The best recent work is probably that of Borie and Sparks3, who carried out an examination of Cu2O on the surface of a single crystal of copper, in which particle size and strain contributions were separated by the method of Warren and Averbach5,6 involving a graphical analysis of the Fourier coefficients An. The introduction of variance as a measure of diffraction broadening7–9 provides an alternative approach which is simpler in some respects and has some notable advantages9,10.