SIMS of silicon bombarded with Sb m + cluster ions

The emission of Si _n ⁺ (n = 1–11) cluster ions and Si _n X _m ⁺ (X stands for B or Sb) polyatomic ions when bombarding a single silicon crystal with Sb _m ⁺ (m = 1–4) cluster ions with energies E ₀ = 3–12 keV is studied. Considerable nonadditive enhancement of the yield of Si _n ⁺ cluster ions and most polyatomic ions is observed when the number of atoms in the bombarding cluster ions is increased. The sensitivity enhancement factor for detecting boron impurities is as high as 50 when the cluster-SIMS-molecule technique is applied.