Characterization in Silicon Processing

Dynamic Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

(Dynamic

SIMS)*

5

In secondary ion mass spectrometry

(SIMS),

a solid specimen, placed in a vacuum,

is

bombarded with a narrow beam of

ions,

called

primary ions,

that

are sufficiently

energetic

to cause ejection (sputtering) of atoms and small clusters of atoms from

the bombarded region. Some of the atoms and atomic clusters are ejected as ions,

called

secondary ions. The secondary ions are subsequently accelerated into a mass

spectrometer, where they are separated according to their mass-to-charge ratio and

counted. The relative quantities of the measured secondary ions are converted to

concentrations ...