Misfit dislocation networks at Ag/MgO(001) interfaces were investigated by means of grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction of Ag films with thicknesses of between 10 and 150nm; deposited at room temperature, using molecular beam epitaxy, onto MgO(001) surfaces with various step densities. They were analyzed after growth, and after annealing at increasing temperature. A square network of edge dislocations was found to release the 3% lattice misfit between Ag and MgO. The dislocation lines were found to be oriented along <110> directions, with a/2[110] Burgers vectors. Quantitative analysis showed that the substrate was deformed according to elasticity theory. Annealing at higher temperatures produced an improved ordering of the dislocation network. With increasing temperature, the period of the dislocation network instantaneously adapted to the actual lattice parameter misfit.

Misfit Dislocation Network at the Ag/MgO(001) Interface: a Grazing-Incidence X-ray Scattering Study. G.Renaud, P.Guénard, A.Barbier: Physical Review B, 1998, 58[11], 7310-8