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TOF‐SIMS depth profiling of multilayer amino‐acid films using large Argon cluster Ar n + , C 60 + and Cs + sputtering ions: A comparative study
Author(s) -
Wehbe N.,
Tabarrant T.,
Brison J.,
Mouhib T.,
Delcorte A.,
Bertrand P.,
Moellers R.,
Niehuis E.,
Houssiau L.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.5121
Subject(s) - sputtering , ion , analytical chemistry (journal) , argon , chemistry , resolution (logic) , materials science , thin film , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chromatography , artificial intelligence , computer science
The performance of Cs + , C 60 + and Ar n + (with n ≈ 1700) sputtering ions have been compared for depth profiling multilayer films made from three evaporated phenylalanine layers sandwiched between four thicker evaporated tyrosine layers. Using Cs + , the ion signals and depth resolution degrade with depth and were significantly affected beyond a 200‐nm depth. The depth profiling quality was more successful using C 60 + . However, in this case, the depth resolution and the layer width values still degrade with the sputtered depth and are particularly poor after reaching a depth of about 400 nm. When Ar 1700 + clusters were used, a depth resolution as low as 6 nm was obtained, and this value never exceeds 9 nm. Moreover, the experimental layer width is found to be of the same order of magnitude as the real value. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.