| In this work, a four-step method is presented for the full structural characterization of self-assembled nano-islands by x-ray techniques. At each step, only one structural parameter is extracted from numerical simulations of the scattered intensity. This parameter is then reinserted to the extraction procedure for the next step.; The first step consists of the extraction of the shape, the size, and the size distribution of the islands from grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering measurements, at very low temporal coherence that is using a large spectral width of the incident x-ray beam. In the second step, we decrease the spectral width of the source. By so doing, the coherence of the incident is increased, which revealing spatial organisation of the islands. The third step uses grazing-incidence diffraction measurements to determine the strain field inside and outside of the islands. The final step consists of large-angle high-resolution x-ray diffraction and specular x-ray reflectivity measurements to characterize the thickness of the wetting layer.; In this work, the theoretical equations for the first three steps are presented, in the first Born approximation (kinematical approach). The numerical simulations of the x-ray scattering measurements are performed only for the first two steps of the outlined procedure. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
