SIMS Spectrometry Technique
AssigneeFEI Company
InventorJohannes Jacobus Lambertus Mulders
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of performing Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, comprising: Providing a specimen on a specimen holder; Using an ion beam to irradiate a region of a surface of said specimen, thereby producing ablated specimen material; Collecting ionized constituents of said ablated material in a mass analyzer, and sorting them according to species, further comprising: Providing a catalytic gas proximal said region of the specimen surface during said irradiation, said gas comprising a component selected from the group comprising perfluoroalkanes and their isomers.
Claims15
A method of performing Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, comprising:
- using an ion beam to irradiate a region of a surface of a specimen, thereby producing ablated specimen material;
- collecting ionized constituents of said ablated material in a mass analyzer, and sorting them according to species;
- and
- providing a catalytic gas proximal said region of the specimen surface during said irradiation, said gas comprising a component selected from the group comprising perfluoroalkanes and their isomers.
A Charged Particle Microscope comprising:
- an ion beam column, for irradiating a region of a surface of a specimen with an ion beam, so as to produce ablated specimen material;
- a mass analyzer, for collecting ionized constituents of said ablated material and sorting them according to species;
- a gas injection system, for administering a gas to a vicinity of said region of the specimen surface during said irradiation;
- a controller, for at least partially controlling operation of said microscope, wherein
- said controller is configured to control said gas injection system so as to administer a catalytic gas comprising a component selected from the group comprising perfluoroalkanes and their isomers.
A method comprising:
- providing a catalytic gas proximal to a surface of a sample, the catalytic gas comprising a component selected from the group comprising perfluoroalkanes and their isomers;
- irradiating the surface of the sample with an ion beam;
- collecting ionized constituents of an ablated material in a mass analyzer, the ablated material generated from the surface of the sample due to the ion beam, wherein the ablated material interacts with the catalytic gas, the catalytic gas increasing a number of ionized species of the ablated material;
- and
- sorting the ionized ablated material according to species.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.