This work demonstrates high-resolution X-ray reflectometry measurements with millisecond time resolution as a quantitative method for fast in situ measurements.

Single-shot damage of an 200 nm-thick Au thin film is experimentally studied with a UV FEL of 121.6 nm wavelength and 2 ps pulse length. The characterized, as well as visually observed, phenomena are analyzed with multiple theoretical approaches.

The theoretical description and the experimental realisation of in situ X-ray reflectivity measurements during thin film deposition of polycrystalline vanadium carbide coatings are presented.

Highly stoichiometric AgInSe₂ thin films have been prepared on a p-type Si(111) substrate by a sol-gel spin-coating technique for the first time, for promising photovoltaic applications.

Four different X-ray methods are demonstrated experimentally, which allow for depth-resolved residual stress analysis in thin films with a chemical composition gradient.

Structural parameters of NiSi₂ nanoplates and Ni nanospheres grown in different layers of a multilayered sample were determined with improved accuracy from an analysis of grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) patterns recorded independently after successive chemical removals of outer layers.

A description of a flexible sample cell for time-resolved grazing-incidence X-ray scattering and X-ray reflectivity measurements is presented. The cell is especially designed for studying drying kinetics, solvent vapor annealing and hydration processes.

A multielectrode-based electrochemical cell allows the structural characterization of amorphous thin-film catalysts under reaction conditions using a high-energy X-ray scattering technique.

In order to determine the residual stress state of thin diamond coatings that are deposited on WC–Co substrates, an approach to separating the overlapping reflections of diamond and cobalt, based on grazing diffraction conditions, is presented. For verification of the experimental results, complementary Raman spectroscopy measurements were performed.

Scanning nanodiffraction mapping was used to map stresses, plastic deformation and cracking of hard coatings during nanoindentation.