I did my physics diploma thesis at Institut für Grenzflächenforschung und Vakuumphysik (IGV), Forschungszentrum Jülich (11/94-03/96) with Harald Ibach and Matthias Wuttig.
My diploma thesis topic was the stabilization of metastable metal films with particular magnetic anisotropy by epitaxial film growth. This was an experimental work where I used the magneto-optical Kerr effect for recording hysteresis curves, in addition to the aforementioned LEED technique. With the combination of both, plus some other methods which you will find in my below mentioned papers, I was able to validate a simple quantitative mathematical model that I had derived parallel to my experimental work.
To put it simple, you can predict in which direct the magnetization vector will point when you know the substrate and the film material in epitaxy. Some relevant formulae and transformations are shown on the top of this page, and some practical applications are shown in the three plots.
During my thesis at Jülich I had the pleasure to spend as an exchange student some weeks at Institute de Crystallographie at CNRS in Grenoble/France with Yves Gauthier, where I got introced to full dynamical LEED-IV calculations for surface structure refinement.
You can get my diploma thesis at amazon, click here.
Publications related with my diploma thesis:
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1106/1106.1917v1.pdf
My most recent contribution to the field of epitaxy is the organization of the Jan van der Merwe Focus Issue with the Journal of Materials Research 2017, jointly with my colleagues at University of Pretoria, Max Braun, Johan Malherbe and Mmantsae Diale.
