Direct Determination of the Stacking Order in Gd₂O₃ Epi-Layers on GaAs

Abstract

We have used Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis (COBRA) to investigate the atomic structure of a 5.6 nm thick Gd 2 O 3 film epitaxially grown on a (100) GaAs substrate. COBRA is a method to directly obtain the structure of systems periodic in two-dimensions by determining the complex scattering factors along the substrate Bragg rods. The system electron density and atomic structure are obtained by Fourier transforming the complex scattering factors into real space. The results show that the stacking order of the first seven Gd 2 O 3 film layers resembles the stacking order of Ga and As layers in GaAs then changes to the stacking order of cubic bulk Gd 2 O 3 . This behavior is distinctly different from the measured stacking order in a 2.7 nm thick Gd 2 O 3 in which the GaAs stacking order persists throughout the entire film.