Nanoscale SIMS analysis: the next generation in local analysis

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) provides very sensitive chemical and elemental information. Nanoscale SIMS analysis is, however, very difficult to carry out by conventional methods, mainly because of the primary beam diameter and vibrations. In our work, we used the latest technology for focused ion beam (FIB) formation, which realizes nanoscale beam diameter. Our detection system (Mattauch-Herzog type mass-analyzer and 120-channel parallel detector) realizes highly sensitive parallel-mass-detection with parallel counting units. In order to minimize the influence of vibrations, the sample was mounted on the end cap of FIB column directly. Under this condition, the ion induced secondary electron image of a vacuum-evaporated Au film on a carbon plate was obtained without the influence of vibrations. The beam profile and a secondary ion image of the IC pattern was obtained using same geometry. The lateral resolution was estimated to be 30 nm at worst. As a result, simultaneous multi-elemental measurements on nanoscale dimension became possible