Modern developments in coatings characterization and microanalysis involving electron and ion beam applications

Surface and thin film analysis can be accomplished by a growing array of increasingly sophisticated analysis techniques. Improvements in electron and ion sources have provided more localized analysis capabilities in Auger electron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). In addition,improved ion sources have allowed more rapid and uniform depth profile analysis. Compact tandem ion accelerators have allowed the development of economical Rutherford backscattering spectrometers. Thin film analysis and the characterization of coatings, even thick coatings which can be efficiently stripped from a surface or extracted intact, can be examined not only by increasingly sophisticated scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microanalysis but also by combinations of scanning and transmission electron microscopies, e.g. scanning transmission electron microscopy and analytical electron microscopy. These combined analytical approaches allow for corroboration in cases of certain ambiguity in composition or microstructure, and several examples of these techniques applied to thin film and coating characterization are illustrated. (Auth.)