Paper EW-TuL3
A New Cluster Ion Beam for Depth Profiling Challenging Organic Materials

Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 12:40 pm, Room Southwest Exhibit Hall

C₆₀ and coronene cluster ion sources have been recently introduced for XPS and TOF-SIMS sputter depth profiling of many polymer materials. These sources have also been very successful for the removal of common organic contamination before XPS and TOF-SIMS surface analysis. This experience with C₆₀ and coronene cluster ion sources has revealed several polymer systems for which these cluster sources can not produce “non-destructive” chemical depth profiling with XPS and TOF-SIMS. Typically these polymers are either cross-linked, highly susceptible to radiation induced cross-linking, or are polymerized with bonds that are not amenable to sputter depth profiling. A new gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) source that produces massive argon cluster ions will be shown to successfully produce XPS and TOF-SIMS depth profiles on challenging materials such as polyimide thin films. The GCIB source can also be used to remove ion beam and plasma induced damaged layers on polymer materials.

This new ion source will greatly expand the breadth of materials for which XPS can produce chemical state depth profiles on multi-layer thin films. In addition, the use of a dual beam depth profiling approach with GCIB and LMIG sources on TOF-SIMS instruments will expand the applications for 3D characterization of polymer and biomaterial samples. Examples will be presented demonstrating the benefits of the GCIB for both XPS and TOF-SIMS analyses.