Simulation of X-ray diffraction in Mn$_x$Bi$_2$Te$_{3+x}$ epitaxic films

TL;DR

This paper evaluates X-ray diffraction simulation techniques for disordered Mn$_x$Bi$_2$Te$_{3+x}$ epitaxial films, focusing on grazing incidence and wide-angle reflectivity to aid structural analysis in spintronic material development.

Contribution

It extends previous X-ray modeling methods to analyze the structural properties of Mn$_x$Bi$_2$Te$_{3+x}$ thin films, considering thickness fluctuations and grazing incidence effects.

Findings

Effective modeling of grazing incidence reflectivity curves.

Insights into the impact of thickness fluctuations on wide-angle reflectivity.

Validation of X-ray tools for disordered heterostructure analysis.

Abstract

Disordered heterostructures stand as a general description for compounds that are part of homologous series such as bismuth chalcogenides. In device engineering, van der Waals epitaxy of these compounds is very promising for applications in spintronic and quantum computing. Structural analysis methods are essential to control and improve their synthesis in the form of thin films. Recently, X-rays tools have been proposed for structural modeling of disordered heterostructures [arXiv:2107.12280]. Here, we further evaluate the use of these tools to study the compound Mn$_x$Bi$_2$Te$_{3+x}$ in the grazing incidence region of the reflectivity curves, as well as the effect of thickness fluctuation in the wide angle region.