Low energy electron oscillations during epitaxial growth of thin films

The specularly reflected intensity of low energy (12 eV) electrons were measured as a function of the deposition time during the growth of Cu-thin films on fcc-Co(100) and cobalt-thin films on Cu(100). The measured curves show pronounced periodical oscillations. The origin of these oscillations is identified as arising from the interference of the electron waves reflected at the vacuum--film and film--substrate boundaries.