AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Helium Ion Microscopy Focus Topic Tuesday Sessions
       Session HI-TuP

Paper HI-TuP6
Layer Thickness Homogeneity Determination via Rutherford Backscattering in Helium-Ion Microscopy

Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 6:00 pm, Room East Exhibit Hall

Session: Aspects of Helium Ion Microscopy Poster Session
Presenter: Henning Vieker, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Authors: H. Vieker, University of Bielefeld, Germany
K. Rott, University of Bielefeld, Germany
A. Beyer, University of Bielefeld, Germany
G. Reiss, University of Bielefeld, Germany
A. Gölzhäuser, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Correspondent: Click to Email
The recently developed helium-ion microscope allows remarkable surface resolution with the secondary-electron (SE) detector. Simultaneously, backscattered ions can be detected that allow imaging with a substantially higher elemental contrast. This Rutherford backscattered (RBS) ion contrast depends mainly on the elemental composition of the investigated sample surface. The escape depth of RBS ions is much larger than for secondary electrons. Thus whole layers with a wide range of thicknesses will contribute to a RBS ion image, whereas the SE image is far more surface sensitive, i.e. insensitive to buried parts under the sample surface.

In this contribution we examine RBS ion imaging as tool to characterize thickness variations of layered samples with well defined compositions. In a model example the homogeneity of a gold layer on a silicon substrate is investigated. The achievable spatial resolution for detecting buried inhomogeneities is analyzed. Furthermore we present examples with multiple layers.