Kinematical Theory

Abstract

The essence of the kinematical x-ray scattering theory lies in the assumption that an x-ray photon, after being scattered by an electron, cannot be scattered by another electron again. Thus, only one scattering act can take place on a single ray. Intuitively, this assumption is more likely to be fulfilled for thinner layers. As we demonstrate in this and the following chapters, the validity of the kinematical approximation depends not only on the layer thickness, but also on other parameters (e.g., strength of the scattering, crystalline perfection, geometrical arrangement). Therefore, it may happen that the scattering process in a relatively thick layer can be described kinematically, while in other situations, the dynamical theory is necessary even for extremely thin layers. Kinematical diffraction theory has been described in many textbooks and monographs, for instance [20, 77, 142, 386].