SIMS depth profiling with sample rotation in a cameca IMS 3F

Abstract

Abstract The improvements in depth resolution and the suppression of sputter‐induced surface topography obtained using sample rotation during SIMS depth profiling in a Cameca IMS 3F are described. The sample rotation was achieved using a stage that maintains the alignment of the ion optical and rotational axes whilst allowing x–y translation to any position on the sample surface. The material systems studied were a Be‐spike‐doped GaAlAs sample grown by molecular beam epitaxy and a sputter‐deposited film of aluminium on silicon. Significant improvement in depth resolution is shown for buried features in both materials; the sputter‐induced ripple topography was suppressed in the analysis of the GaAlAs; for the aluminium on silicon sample the surface roughening was much reduced but some topography was still present even with sample rotation. The apparent interface width between the 1 μm thick aluminium film and the silicon substrate was reduced from 310 to 45 nm.