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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
As solid state device features continue to decrease in size, it has become more important to characterize dopant concentrations within the first several hundred angstroms of the surface. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is the technique of choice for dopant depth profiling due to its high sensitivity and good depth resolution. In order to increase the sensitivity of SIMS, electropositive elements (e.g. oxygen) or electronegative elements (e.g. cesium) are used as primary ion species to enhance positive or negative secondary ion yields, respectively. This has the disadvantage, however, of causing secondary ion yields to vary by up to several orders of magnitude over the first few hundred angstroms of a depth profile as the implanted primary ion concentration increases [1,2]. Secondary ion yields stabilize once the primary ion reaches a steady state concentration, which occurs at a depth proportional to the range of the primary ions in the solid. This ion yield transient artifact hinders quantification of dopant concentrations until the primary ion concentration reaches steady state.