MEIS, TEM and GISAXS investigation of buried Pb nanoislands in SiO₂/Si interface

Highlights

• Microstructural, morphological and compositional investigation of buried nanoparticles.

• Importance of the combined MEIS, GISAXS and TEM analysis is demonstrated.

• The bimodal nanoparticles’ shape nature of this system has been revealed.

• The potentiality of MEIS on the study of buried nanostructures in a solid matrix is shown.

Abstract

A combination of medium energy ion scattering (MEIS), grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy techniques was used to investigate a planar set of Pb nanoparticles (NPs) located at the SiO₂/Si interface synthesized by ion implantation, and the bimodal NPs’ shape nature of this system was revealed. The present results help to improve the understanding of the use of MEIS on the investigation of the microstructural and morphological properties of buried nanostructured systems and show the importance of the combination with appropriate complementary techniques.