Investigation of surface layers by SIMS and SIIMS

In the Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) the sample to be analysed is bombarded with a beam of primary ions. The secondary ions sputtered away from the sample, characteristic for its composition near the surface at any time, are mass selected and detected in a mass spectrometer. The yields of several elements in a Fe-matrix and in technically pure samples bombarded with positive oxygen and argon ions have been determined to study the influence of the matrix and the primary ions on the ion yields. The properties of SIMS and of two of its special modes viz. Static Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SSIMS) and Secondary Ion Imaging Mass Spectrometry (SIIMS) with respect to the analysis of surface layers are discussed.