Abstract
AbstractA low‐energy Ar+ ion‐induced damaged layer on a GaAs surface was investigated using transmission electron microscopy. The dependence of the thickness of the damaged layer on the incident energy and angle of primary ions was studied. The primary energies of Ar+ ions were 200, 100 and 50 eV, which were adjusted by setting the accelerating voltages at 200, 100 and 50 V, respectively. The energies of primary Ar+ ions were measured by a laboratory‐made compact retarding‐field analyser, confirming that the peak energies were ∼180, ∼88 and ∼44 eV for accelerating voltages of 200, 100 and 50 V, respectively. The angles of incidence were 90°, 60° and 30° from the sample surface. The thickness of the damaged layer was ∼4.3 nm for 200 eV Ar+ ion irradiation at the incident angle of 90°. By lowering the primary energy from 200 to 50 eV and setting the incident angle at 30°, the thickness of the damaged layer was reduced to ∼1.5 nm. The present results confirmed that lowering the primary energy of ions to 50 eV and a glancing incidence are significantly effective for achieving higher depth resolution in sputter depth profiling. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call