Towards secondary ion mass spectrometry on the helium ion microscope: An experimental and simulation based feasibility study with He⁺ and Ne⁺ bombardment

Abstract

The combination of the high-brightness He+/Ne+ atomic level ion source with secondary ion mass spectrometry detection capabilities opens up the prospect of obtaining chemical information with high lateral resolution and high sensitivity on the Zeiss ORION helium ion microscope. The analytical performance in terms of sputtering yield, useful yield, and detection limit is studied and subsequently optimized by oxygen and cesium flooding. Detection limits down to 10−6 and 10−5 can be obtained for silicon using Ne+ and He+, respectively. A simulation based study reveals furthermore that a lateral resolution <10 nm can be obtained.