Abstract: SIMS—a useful complement to other depth profiling techniques

Abstract

Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) used alone has been shown to be a powerful tool for elemental surface characterization.1,2 Used in conjunction with another technique such as ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) or Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), SIMS becomes even more powerful. SIMS has been combined in our laboratory with both of the above techniques using quadrupole mass analyzers from two different manufacturers. The complementary nature of SIMS−ISS and SIMS−AES make them especially useful when they are used together. The weakness of one is generally the strength of the other. Specific examples of this strength−weakness relationship are shown. Interesting SIMS results at ion beam accelerating energies of as low as 100 V are discussed for materials studied in research on adhesive bonding.