Morphology of nanostructured materials

Here we shall discuss the importance of grazing incidence X-ray scattering techniques in studying morphology of nanostructured materials confined in thin films and multilayers. In these studies, the shapes, sizes, and structures of nanostructured materials and their distribution in composites are investigated. These studies are important for understanding properties that may deviate considerably from the known bulk properties. We shall first outline basics of three X-ray scattering techniques, namely X-ray reflectivity, grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, and grazing incidence diffraction, used for these studies. We shall then demonstrate the utility of these techniques using some known results.