With the advancing of material science, nowadays the thin film deposition technology is developing quickly and has a crucial role in our everyday lives. Thin film deposition is the act of applying a thin film on the surface of another material. It is used in the manufacturing of devices such as computers and thin film transistors. It also finds applications in the production of semiconductors as well as in simple everyday objects as a typical household mirror.
Read moreScientists make extensive use of X-ray fluorescence to map elements in materials. However, this technique does not have the needed spatial sensitivity unless the probe is finely focused.
Scientists have now found a way to turn X-ray fluorescence into an ultra-high position-sensitive probe to measure tiny internal structures called nanostructures in thin films (Nature Communications, “Reconstruction of Evolving Nanostructures in Ultrathin Films with X-ray Waveguide Fluorescence Holography”). These thin films can be a hundred times finer than a human hair.
