Determination of interface roughness of Gd films deposited on Si surface using improved wavelet transform of X-ray reflectivity data

An improved wavelet transform method for the analysis of specular X-ray reflectivity data has been developed. It permits the evaluation of the thickness and roughness of particular layers in the thin film without assuming a certain film structure. The advantage of this method is that it can be applied to the analysis of a multilayer with unknown chemical and physical properties. It is useful in the characterization of structures with a complex composition, particularly oxide or diffuse layers. The present approach was successfully applied to the study of experimental data obtained on Gd thin nanoparticle films.