Application of the storing matter technique to the analysis of boron doped and implanted SiO2/Si

The storing matter technique is a new analytical technique which has been developed to avoid the matrix effect observed in secondary ion mass spectrometry. This new technique gives the possibility of decoupling the sputtering step from the subsequent analysis step by SIMS. During the sputtering the emitted matter is deposited on a well known collector. Since the matter sputtered from different samples or layers is deposited on the same virgin collector, it makes the quantification easier and more accurate. In order to study the efficacy of this technique, storing matter depth profiles are compared with traditional SIMS depth profiles for a boron implanted SiO2/Si. A boron-doped sample was used as a reference. The traditional SIMS depth profile for the implanted sample shows two peaks caused by the matrix effect, an initial sharp peak due to native SiO2 at the surface, and an additional broad peak due to the high concentration of 11B at 400 nm below the surface. In contrast, the reconstructed depth profile by storing matter shows that those matrix effects can be eliminated, therefore avoiding problems of quantification.