TOF-SIMS analysis using C60. Effect of impact energy on yield and damage.

John S Fletcher, Xavier A Conlan, Emrys A Jones, Greg Biddulph, Nicholas P Lockyer, John C Vickerman

Index: Anal. Chem. 78(6) , 1827-31, (2006)

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Abstract

C60 has been shown to give increased sputter yields and, hence, secondary ions when used as a primary particle in SIMS analysis. In addition, for many samples, there is also a reduction in damage accumulation following continued bombardment with the ion beam. In this paper, we report a study of the impact energy (up to 120 keV) of C60 on the secondary ion yield from a number of samples with consideration of any variation in yield response over mass ranges up to m/z 2000. Although increased impact energy is expected to produce a corresponding increase in sputter yield/rate, it is important to investigate any increase in sample damage with increasing energy and, hence, efficiency of the ion beams. On our test samples including a metal, along with organic samples, there is a general increase in secondary ion yield of high-mass species with increasing impact energy. A corresponding reduction in the formation of low-mass fragments is also observed. Depth profiling of organic samples demonstrates that when using C60, there does not appear to be any increase in damage evident in the mass spectra as the impact energy is increased.