RESONANCE SCATTERING OF HIGH ENERGY ELECTRONS BY A CRYSTAL SURFACE

Abstract

In this review we summarize the results of recent experimental and theoretical studies of the phenomenon known as resonance scattering of high-energy electrons from crystal surfaces. Resonance scattering is responsible for the appearance of bright features observed in reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns and has found numerous applications in reflection electron microscopy and in RHEED studies of dynamics of molecular beam epitaxial growth of semiconductor crystals. The origin of the effect remained obscure for more than sixty years following the discovery of resonance scattering by Kikuchi and Nakagawa in 1933. Below we review theoretical models of the phenomenon which have been developed recently and which have provided the basis for understanding of the mechanism of resonance scattering. We conclude the review with a list of presently unsolved problems which, as we hope, can stimulate future progress in the theory of RHEED.