Abstract

The determination of the lateral distributions of chemical species on surfaces is of constantly increasing technological importance in many applications, such as integrated circuit manufacturing. The only two tools which have been available are scanning Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) (in scanning or microscope modes). The AES technique is the most widespread but generally is considered to be of lesser sensitivity than SIMS, at least for spatial resolutions (defined by the primary beam diameter, d) of approximately ≥ 0.1 µm. Nominal sensitivities for AES are ~2 to 3% concentrations for d ≥1 µm, and 3 to 10 % for d ranging from 1.0 µm to 0.1 µm, respectively.¹ Also, scanning AES can be very problematic for insulators and electron sensitive materials, although it undoubtedly will continue to be a major tool.

© 1991 Optical Society of America