It was pointed out that slow positron spectroscopy was an attractive technique for assessing the microstructure of thin films which contained small open-volume defects such as inter-columnar voids or vacancies. Recent results were presented here of the use of the technique to characterize nitride films which had been deposited by using various deposition techniques. The effects of the defect density and columnar packing density upon the results were highlighted.

P.C.Rice-Evans, A.S.Saleh, S.J.Bull: Applied Surface Science, 1995, 85, 320-4