The Ewald's sphere analysis is similar to that for bulk crystals, however the reciprocal lattice for the sample differs from that for a 3D material due to the surface sensitivity of the RHEED process. The reciprocal lattices of bulk crystals consist of a set of points in 3D space. However, only the first few layers of the material contribute to the diffraction in RHEED, so there are no diffraction conditions in the dimension perpendicular to the sample surface. Due to the lack of a third diffracting condition, the reciprocal lattice of a crystal surface is a series of infinite rods extending perpendicular to the sample's surface. These rods originate at the conventional 2D reciprocal lattice points of the sample's surface.