Method for analyzing membrane structure and apparatus therefor

A method for analyzing a structure of a membrane specimen comprising:

• fitting simulated operation data, obtained by differentiating at least one parameter representing a physical property of the membrane specimen having a single layer or a multi-layer membrane, to measured data obtained according to an X-ray incident on the membrane specimen at an angle in a vicinity of a critical angle with respect to a surface of the membrane specimen;
• obtaining optimum values according to values of parameters which provide a minimum difference between the measured data and the simulated operation data;
• determining the structure of the membrane specimen according to the optimum values from said obtaining of the optimum values,
• wherein said fitting of the simulated operation data includes simultaneously fitting the simulated operation data to a first measured data obtained by irradiating the membrane specimen with an X-ray having a high resolution, and fitting the simulated operation data to a second measured data obtained by irradiating the membrane specimen with an X-ray having a low resolution.

A membrane structure analyzer for analyzing a membrane structure of a single layer or multi-layer membrane specimen according to an X-ray reflectivity measurement conducted using a specified range of angles of X-ray reflection with respect to a surface of the membrane specimen, said membrane structure analyzer comprising:

• a means for measuring the X-ray reflectivity of the membrane specimen using a plurality of different measuring conditions, including a measuring condition with a high resolution and a narrow dynamic range when the angle of X-ray reflection is on a high side of the specified range of angles and including a measuring condition with a low resolution and a wide dynamic range when the angle of X-ray reflection is on a low side of the specified range of angles;
• a means for generating a plurality of sets of measured data based on the measuring of the X-ray reflectivity;
• a means for generating a plurality of reflectivity curves according to the plurality of sets of measured data;
• and
• a means for simultaneously analyzing the plurality of reflectivity curves and for determining the structure of the membrane specimen according to the simultaneous analysis.

A membrane structure analyzer for analyzing a structure of a membrane specimen, said membrane structure analyzer comprising:

• a means for fitting simulated operation data, obtained by differentiating at least one parameter representing a physical property of the membrane specimen having a single layer or a multi-layer membrane, to measured data obtained according to an X-ray incident on the membrane specimen at an angle in a vicinity of a critical angle with respect to a surface of the membrane specimen;
• a means for obtaining optimum values according to values of parameters which provide a minimum difference between the measured data and the simulated operation data;
• a means for determining the structure of the membrane specimen according to the
• optimum values from said means for obtaining the optimum values,
• wherein, said means for fitting the simulated operation data is operable to simultaneously fit the simulated operation data to a first measured data obtained by irradiating the membrane specimen with an X-ray having a high resolution, and operable to simultaneously fit the simulated operation data to a second measured data obtained by irradiating the membrane specimen with an X-ray having a low resolution.