Imaging thin films with subatomic resolution

Yizhak Yacoby
Racah Institute, Jerusalem

A recently developed method to determine the atomic structure of thin films and their interface with the substrate will be discussed. The method known as Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis (COBRA) consists of measuring the diffraction intensities along the system Bragg rods, analyzing the results to determine the complex scattering factors which are then Fourier transformed into real space to determine the system electron density. The principles underlying the method will be briefly discussed and the method will be illustrated with three examples.

1. Ferroelectric thin films and the problem of depolarizing electric
fields.

2. The formation of 2D electron gas at the interface of LaAlO3/SrTiO3