SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF COMPOSITION AND THICKNESS OF THIN-FILMS BY X-RAY-MICROANALYSIS AT 300 KV AND MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION

A method of X-ray microanalysis based on a Monte Carlo code, recently developed to determine simultaneously both the composition and the thickness of thin self-supporting films, has been applied to the analysis of titanium silicide films in a 300 kV transmission electron microscope. The film composition corresponds well to the TiSi2 phase, as determined from diffraction patterns, whereas its thickness is very close to the one obtained by convergent-beam diffraction in an adjacent silicon region. In addition, the bootstrap method of statistics is applied to evaluate, from the experimental errors, the accuracy of the analytical results. © 1990.