Surface and depth profile analysis of insulating samples by TOF-SIMS

Abstract

The functionahty of modern products made of glass, glass-ceramics, organics or other special materials is mainly dominated by the surface quality. A well defined lateral homogeneity of the surface stoichiometry is an important requirement for following addedvalue procedures, e.g. optical, mechanical or organic functional coatings. As a characterization tool the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) provides analytical information about the chemical matrix in the surface near region with a lateral and depth resolution on the nanometer scale. Corrosion, contamination, interaction with the environment or diffusion of material components are typical phenomena, which can be studied in detail. The results lead to a deeper knowledge of the microscopic material behavior which is one of the basics for the understanding of complex processes in the field of development and production. Typical applications demonstrate the variety of operating a TOF-SIMS analytic tool, which is optimized for the investigation of electrically high insulating sample Systems with various geometric appearance.