Abstract
An experimental approach to crystal growth dynamics using synchrotron X-ray diffraction is discussed. In the study of crystal growth, analysis of imperfect crystals lacking three-dimensional periodicity is inevitably required. Every real crystal has surfaces, at which the periodicity in the surface normal direction is lost. Defects generated in epitaxial films result in the diffuse scattering around the Bragg peaks. Quantum structures having a finite size yield extended diffraction that gives information about the size, shape and internal strains of the crystal. Although such diffuse scattering is much weaker than the bulk Bragg diffraction, recent development of the synchrotron light source has enabled the in situ measurement of it during crystal growth. In this article, studies on surface structures, evolution of defects in growing films and the growth of nanostructures under molecular-beam epitaxy conditions are presented as well as a brief overview of the instrumentation.
