Challenges of grazing emission X-ray fluorescence (GEXRF) for the characterization of advanced nanostructured surfaces

The grazing emission X-ray fluorescence (GEXRF) technique offers a promising approach to determining the spatial distribution of various chemical elements in nanostructures. In this paper, we present a comparison with grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), an established method for dimensional nanometrology, on periodic TiO₂ nanostructures fabricated by a self-aligned double patterning (SADP) process. We further test the potential of GEXRF for process control in the presence of residual chromium on the structures. The angle-resolved fluorescence emission as well as the scattered radiation from the surface are collected with photon-counting hybrid pixel area detectors using scanning-free detection schemes. By modelling the X-ray standing wave (XSW) field in the vicinity of and inside the nanostructure, it is possible to obtain both the angle-resolved fluorescence intensities and the far-field scattering intensities from the same model. The comparison also illustrates that for ensemble photon-based measurement methods, accounting for roughness effects and imperfections can be essential when modelling advanced nanostructured surfaces.