Determination of boron in the thin surface layer of a silicon wafer by instrumental charged particle activation analysis

Abstract

Instrumental charged particle activation analysis (CPAA) for determining boron in a thin surface layer of silicon was developed. The nuclear reaction and incident energy were selected in order to minimize any interference from surface or bulk impurities. Thin boron film was used as a standard sample and its boron content was determined by neutron induced prompt γ-ray analysis. As a result, we were able to determine11B and10B at 1015 atoms/cm2 with an accuracy of better than 3% by 4 MeV proton and 7 MeV α-bombardment, respectively. Each boron isotope could be determined down to 1013 atoms/cm2. Our CPAA was applied to determine boron in a boron implanted silicon wafer of a SIMS standard sample.