Nanoresolution profiling of metal-metal interfaces from x-ray Fraunhofer diffraction data

High-angular-resolution Fraunhofer diffraction data were collected from several samples with interfaces between dissimilar metals using synchrotron x-radiation. The refractive index profile in the vicinity of the interface of each sample was reconstructed with spatial resolution of about 80nm by the phase retrieval x-ray diffractometry technique, using only limited a priori knowledge of the sample. These studies have demonstrated the viability of the technique as a nondestructive method of characterization of internal interfaces within multiphase materials.