Nanometric resolution in glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry depth profiling of metal (Cr,Al) nitride multilayers

In this work, we address the capability of glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) for fast and accurate depth profiling of multilayer nitride coatings down to the nanometer range. This is shown by resolving the particular case of CrN/AlN structures with individual thickness ranging from hundreds to few nanometers. In order to discriminate and identify artefacts in the GDOES depth profile due to the sputtering process, the layered structures were verified by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The interfaces in the GDOES profiles for CrN/AlN structures are sharper than the ones measured for similar metal multilayers due to the lower sputtering rate of the nitrides. However, as a consequence of the crater shape, there is a linear degradation of the depth resolution with depth (approximately 40 nm/μm), saturating at a value of approximately half the thickness of the thinner layer. This limit is imposed by the simultaneous sputtering of consecutive layers. The ultimate GDOES depth resolution at the near surface region was estimated to be of 4–6 nm.