Quantitative surface analysis of FeNi alloy films by XPS, AES and SIMS

Abstract

AbstractA comparison of quantitative surface analyses of FeNi alloy thin films by various methods has been proposed as a pilot study by the Surface Analysis Working Group of the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM). To test the suitability of FeNi for this purpose, alloy films with different compositions were grown on Si(100) wafers by ion‐beam sputter deposition and the compositions were certified by an isotope dilution method using inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry. The alloy compositions measured with X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) using sensitivity factors determined from pure Fe and Ni metal films agreed with the certified mean values to better than 2%. The alloy compositions quantified by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) with a C60 ion source agreed to better than 4% with the certified compositions if one of the alloys was used to establish the relative sensitivity factors (RSFs). These results indicate that the quantification of the FeNi alloy is a good method for a CCQM pilot study because matrix effects and ion‐sputtering effects are small for these analytical methods. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.