Measurement of ion sputtering yields for depth profile analyses

• Published in: Surface and interface analysis 1992-08, Vol.18 (8), p.594-600
• Main Authors: Suzuki, Toshiko, Hirokawa, Kichinosuke, Fukuda, Yasuo, Suzuki, Ken-ichi, Hashimoto, Satoshi, Usuki, Noriaki, Gennai, Norio, Yoshida, Shizuo, Koda, Mitsuru, Sezaki, Hiroshi, Horie, Akira, Tanaka, Akihiro, Ohtsubo, Takashi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0142-2421; 1096-9918
• DOI: 10.1002/sia.740180805

Results are reported of the second phase of joint research on ion sputtering that was conducted by the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan. Various effects on sputtering yields were studied in detail, and the yields for Ni and Zn were determined by analysing the depth profile of electrodeposited steel sheets with an Auger electorn spectrometer, Ar+ ions were used as the bombarding species, and a Faraday cup, which was fitted with a front plate incorporating a small hole in the centre for the ions to pass through, was used to measure the electric current of the incident ions. To calculate the ion current density, a correction for the effective transmittance efficiency of the hole was made according to its cross‐sectional shape. The sputtering yields determined in several laboratories by using this correction agreed with each other better than those obtained in the first phase of the work. The angular dependence and energy dependence of the sputtering yields for Ni and Zn were measured. A standard procedure is proposed for the measurement of ion sputtering yields to analyse depth profiles, including methods to measure the ion current, to calculate the current density, to optimize the sample position and to tune lenses of the ion gun.