Instrument: Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (SIMS)

Model: IMS 7f

Manufacturer: CAMECA (France)

The IMS 7f is a universal SIMS designed for precision elemental and isotopic analyses of solid surfaces. It has been optimized for challenging applications such as glass, metals, ceramics, Si-based, III-V and II-VI devices, bulk materials, thin films fulfilling industry and academia requirements for R&D and process control.

Key analytical features of the IMS 7f for solving a wide range of analytical problems:

• Analysis of all elements (incl. H, He) and isotopes of periodic table
• Efficient charge compensation using an electron beam for analysis of insulators
• Excellent detection limits (for many elements at sub-ppb level)
• A unique optical design allowing for both direct ion microscopy (resolution ~ 1 um) and scanning microprobe imaging (resolution < 500 nm)
• Shallow (tens of nm) and deep (tens of um) concentration depth profiles (depth resolution < 1.9 nm/decade)
• High mass resolution (M/DM > 20000 at 10% of peak height)
• High precision isotopic ratios ( < 0.1 % from bulk, < 1% from micrometer-size particles)

Requirements for sample preparation:

• Vacuum compatibility (cleanliness, non-volatility)
• Flat surface for accurate quantification
• Maximal sample diameter 25 mm
• Maximal sample thickness < 12 mm

Quantitative analysis:

• Accurate quantitative analysis cannot be done without calibration standards, i.e. samples with the same matrix composition as the samples to be analyzed