Oxide thickness measurements up to 120 Å on silicon and aluminum using the chemically shifted auger spectra

Thicknesses of oxides on Si or Al can be determined up to about 120 Å using Auger electron spectroscopy, without ion-mill depth profiling, by using the ratio of the chemically shifted and unshifted peaks from the oxide and substrate, respectively. Measurement standard deviations of ± 1 Å at oxide thickness of 30 Å and spatial resolution < 10 μm are readily attainable. The absolute accuracy of the present calibration is about ± 30% at 30 Å for SiO₂. A comparison of the measured thickness d with ellipsometry revealed a disagreement which was largest at $\text{d(}\text{ellips.}\text{) = 50}\text{A}\text{?}$, where d(Auger) was 33 Å. We propose that most of this disagreement is a consequence of the finite extent of the oxide/Si interface, and the measurement of different physical parameters in the two techniques. It is demonstrated that the milling rate of SiO₂ (within about 100 Å from the SiO₂/Si interface) can be determined from ion-mill depth profiles alone and the position of the interface in the depth profile can be located within serveral Å. The electron mean free path in SiO₂ at 1615 eV was determined to be 31 ± 9 Å.