Oxygen depth profiling by nuclear resonant scattering

Abstract

Nuclear resonance scattering (NRS) 16O(α,α)16O at 3.045 MeV (Γ=10 keV) has been used for oxygen depth profiling in various thin oxide films. There are two ways by which the oxygen concentration versus depth profile can be obtained from the experimental data: energy spectrum simulation or yield distribution analysis. Energy spectrum simulation is done using the standard RBS software/Rutherford Universal Manipulation Program (RUMP) where only one spectrum is usually needed from the measurement. Yield distribution analysis is accomplished by using a custom developed software/Resonance Analysis Program (RAP) and involves a series of spectra obtained by stepping up the beam energy above the resonance energy. This article aims at comparing the fundamentals of both methods and also discussing their advantages and disadvantages in terms of the data acquisition and the post data analysis. A thermally grown thick SiO2 film and a thin titanium oxide film grown by corona point discharge were examined.