• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.147-152
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• 2023

The increasing demand for two-dimensional imaging analysis using optical or electronic microscopic techniques has led to an increase in the use of simple one-dimensional and two-dimensional mass spectrometry imaging. Among these imaging methods, secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has the best spatial resolution using a primary ion beam with a relatively insignificant beam diameter. Until recently, SIMS, which uses high-energy primary ion beams, has not been used to analyze molecules. However, owing to the development of cluster ion beams, it has been actively used to analyze various organic molecules from the surface. Researchers and commercial SIMS companies are developing cluster ion beams to analyze biological samples, including amino acids, peptides, and proteins. In this study, a water droplet ion beam for surface analysis was realized. Water droplets ions were generated via electrospraying in a vacuum without desolvation. The generated ions were accelerated at an energy of 10 keV and collided with the target sample, and secondary ion mass spectra were obtained for the generated ions using ToF-SIMS. Thus, the proposed water droplet ion-beam device showed potential applicability as a primary ion beam in SIMS.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.65-70
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• 2020

Despite its great success in the field of proteomics, mass spectrometry has limited use for determining structural details of peptides, proteins, and their assemblies. Emerging ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry has enabled us to explore the conformational space of protein ions in the gas phase, and further combinations with the gas-phase ion spectroscopy and the collision-induced unfolding have extended its abilities to elucidating the secondary structure and local details of conformational transitions. This review will provide a brief introduction to the combined approaches of IMS-MS with gas-phase ion infrared spectroscopy or collision-induced unfolding and their most recent results that successfully revealed higher-order structural details.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.26-30
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• 2021

The impurity concentration is a crucial parameter for semiconductor thin films. Evaluating the impurity distribution in silicon thin film is another challenge. In this study, we have investigated the doping concentration of boron in silicon thin film using time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry in dynamic mode of operation. Boron doped silicon film was grown on i) p-type silicon wafer and ii) borosilicate glass using hot wire chemical vapor deposition technique for possible applications in optoelectronic devices. Using well-tuned SIMS measurement recipe, we have detected the boron counts 101~104 along with the silicon matrix element. The secondary ion beam sputtering area, sputtering duration and mass analyser analysing duration were used as key variables for the tuning of the recipe. The quantitative analysis of counts to concentration conversion was done following standard relative sensitivity factor. The concentration of boron in silicon was determined 1017~1021 atoms/㎤. The technique will be useful for evaluating distributions of various dopants (arsenic, phosphorous, bismuth etc.) in silicon thin film efficiently.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2004

Secondary ion mass spectrometry(SIMS) and glow discharge mass spectrometry(GDMS) were used to determine the impurity concentrations of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen elements in the Cu and Ta films, and the results of SIMS and GDMS analysis were carefully considered. The Cu and Ta films were deposited on Si (100) substrates at zero substrate bias voltage and a substrate bias voltage of -50 V(Cu films) or -125 V(Ta films) using a non-mass separated ion beam deposition method. As a result of SIMS with Cs+ ion beam, in the case of the Cu and Ta films deposited without the substrate bias voltage, many strong peaks were observed, which is considered to be detected as a the cluster state such as CxHx, OxHx, CxOxHx. All the peaks of SIMS results could be interpreted by the combination of these dominant impurities. Moreover, it was confirmed that the quantitative results of GDMS analysis were accordant to the SIMS results.

• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.357-367
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• 2019

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry(SIMS) is an analytical method that measures the distribution and concentration of elements or compounds by analyzing the mass of secondary ions released by irradiating ion beams with energy of hundreds eV to 20 keV on the sample surface. Unlike other similar analytical instruments, SIMS directly detect the elemental ions that constitute a sample, allowing you to accurately identify components and obtain concentration information in the depth direction. It is also a great feature for measuring isotopes and analyzing light elements, especially hydrogen. In particular, with the development of materials science, there is an increasing demand for trace concentration analysis and isotope measurements in the micro-regions of various materials. SIMS has a short history compared to other similar methods; nevertheless, SIMS is still advancing in hardware and is expected to contribute to the development of materials science through research and development of advanced analytical techniques.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2004

Ta films were deposited on Si (100) substrates at zero substrate bias voltage and a substrate bias voltage of -125 V ($V_{s}$ = -125 V) using a non-mass separated ion beam deposition system. To investigate the effect of the negative substrate bias voltage on the impurity concentration in the Ta films, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) was used to determine impurities in the Ta films. By the SIMS depth profiles with $Cs^{+}$ cluster ion beam, high intensities of O, C and Si were clearly found in the Ta film at $V_{s}$ = 0 V, whereas these impurities remarkably decreased in the Ta film at $V_{s}$ = -125 V. Furthermore, from the SIMS result with $Cs^{+}$ and $O_2^{+}$ ion beams, it was found that applying the negative substrate bias voltage could affect individual impurity contents in the Ta films during the deposition. Discussions concerning the effect of the negative substrate bias voltage on the impurity concentration of Ta films will be described in details.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.715-722
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• 1995

The structural characterization for series of polyesters has been done by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). Polymer fragments and intact oligomers composed of large numbers of repeat units have been investigated. Transesterification of polyesters in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and chlorodifluoroacetic acid (CFA) was monitored and reaction products were identified using TOF-SIMS. The shapes and intensities of clusters in transesterification spectra show good agreement with the theoretical isotope pattern. TOF-SIMS spectra were used to obtain information about the progress of the transesterification reaction.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.64-68
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• 2016

Scanning electron microscopy combined with thermal ionization mass spectrometry (SEM-TIMS) was used to determine the precise isotope ratios of ultra-trace levels of uranium contained in individual microparticles. An advanced multiple ion counter system consisting of three secondary ion multipliers and two compact discrete dynodes was used for complete simultaneous ion detection. For verification purposes, using TIMS with complete simultaneous measurement, isotopes were analyzed in 5 pg of uranium of a certified reference material. A microprobe in the SEM was used to transfer individual particles from a NUSIMEP-7 sample to TIMS filaments, which were then subjected to SEM-TIMS and complete simultaneous measurement. The excellent agreement in the resulting uranium isotope ratios with the certified NUSIMEP-7 values shows the validity of SEM-TIMS with complete simultaneous measurement for the analysis of uranium isotopes in individual particles. Further experimental study required for investigation of simultaneous measurement using the advanced multiple ion counter system is presented.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.225-233
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• 2001

Distortion of Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry(SIMS) depth profile, which is usually observed when the analysis is made using oxygen flooding on the surface of Si with oxide on it, has been corrected. The origin of distortion has been attributed to depth calibration error due to sputter rate difference and concentration calibration error due to relative sensitivity factor(RSF) difference between $SiO_2$ and Si layers, In order to correct depth calibration error, artifact in analysis of sodium ion on oxide was used to define the interface in SIMS depth profile and oxide thickness was measured with SEM and XPS. The differences of sputter rate and RSF between two layers have been attributed to volume swelling of Si substrate occurred by oxygen flooding induced oxidation. The corrected SIMS depth profiles showed almost the same results with those obtained without oxygen flooding.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.328-334
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• 2001

The characteristics of $NO/N_2O$ nitrided oxide and reoxidized nitrided oxide being studied as super thin gate oxide and gate dielectric layers of nonvolatile semiconductor memory(NVSM) was investigated by dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry(D-SMS), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry(ToF-SIMS), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The specimen was annealed in $NO/N_2O$ ambient after initial oxide process. The result of D-SIMS exhibits that the center of nitrogen exists at the initial oxide interface and the distribution of nitrogen is wider in the annealing process with $N_2O$ than with NO annealing process. For investigating the condition of nitrogen that exists within the nitrided oxide, ToF-SIMS and XPS analysis were carried out. It was shown that the center of nitrogen investigated by D-SIMS was expected the SiON chemical bonds. The nitrogen near the newly formed reoxide/silicon substrate interface was appeared as $Si_2NO$ chemical bonds, and it is agreed with the distribution of SiN and $Si_2NO$ species by ToF-SIMS.