SURFACE AND THIN-FILM ANALYSIS - CONCEPTS, CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS

A brief survey of the concepts and limiting conditions of instrumental surface-analysis techniques and their use for in-depth distribution analysis of thin films is presented. The basic differences between the most important methods: Photoelectron Spectroscopy (ESCA), Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), Secondary-Ion Mass-Spectrometry (SIMS) and Ion-Scattering Spectrometry (ISS) are outlined. Examples of compositional profiles obtained in combination with sputtering illustrate the influence of information depth and of bombardment-induced micro-roughening on the accuracy of in-depth analysis. © 1979.