Modulation-doped Al0.22Ga0.78N/GaN heterostructure with 1000 A Si-doped n-Al0.22Ga0.78N barrier (n-AlGaN) were deposited on (0001)-oriented sapphire (-Al2O3) by means of atmosphere-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The reciprocal space mappings of symmetric reflection (0002) and asymmetric reflection (1014) were measured with high resolution X-ray diffraction. The results indicate that the microstructure and strain status of barrier correlate to that of the underlying i-GaN layer. The barrier holds an "abnormal" strainrelaxation status, which probably results from the internal defects of n-AlGaN and the strain relaxation status at the i-GaN/-Al2O3 interfaces. The results from grazing incidence X-ray diffraction show that the strain in barrier is nonuniform, which is consistent with the results from the reciprocal space mappings.

The discovery of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) 1 in thin film perovskite-like manganites has renewed interest in their possible use in device applications. 2 One of the crucial issues in thin film CMR manganites is the role of finite size effects related to structure on the thin film properties. Due to the restricted geometrical dimensionality of a thin film, a change in the layer thickness changes the metal-to-insulator transition temperature Tc. There exist several key areas for which we do not have a fundamental understanding of the physical processes that are occurring. Many of the problems arise from a poor understanding of the magnetism and structure at, or close to the interface region between the layer and the substrate.

We have prepared the Y Ca Ba Cu O with xF compounds by the solid state reaction technique. The uperconduct-1yx x 2 3 y ing critical temperature was measured. The structural parameters as a function of Ca substitution were obtained through the detailed analysis of the X-ray diffraction for these Ca-doped samples. The variation of the lattice parameters, some meaningful bond lengths, and the microstrain in lattice change with the Ca content have been discussed.

Crystal tilts in the epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELO) GaN region over SiO2 mask by hydride vapor phase epitaxial away from the opening region were investigated by scanning electron microscope and the four-circle x-ray diffraction method. The increased mask width and ratio of stripe opening width to stripe period (fill factor) lead to increased wing tilts. The introduction of additional HCl and C3H8 /H2 can decrease wing tilts and improve the ELO GaN surface morphologies significantly. Moreover, it has been observed that a high growth rate will bring more defects and large wing tilts into the GaN materials.

The interface structure and magnetoresistance (MR) for the single spin valve (SV) of Co/Cu/Co structure with a NiO layer at the top or under the bottom were investigated. Glancing incident x-ray reflectivity and x-ray diffuse scatter studies show that the interface roughness of NiO on Co is much larger than that of Co on NiO. The large roughness may be one of the main factors of suppressing spin reflectivity. The interface between NiO and Co becomes more flat after annealing. Different temperature dependence of MR was observed for the top and the bottom SV. We attribute the above phenomena to the competition between the roughness and the exchange effects of the NiO/Co interface.