Depth profiling by means of the combination of glancing incidence X-ray fluorescence spectrometry with low energy ion beam etching technique

Experiments using a combination of laterally resolved glancing incidence X-ray fluorescence spectrometry in the vicinity of the critical angle of total reflection and ion beam ramp etching were performed to work out a new technique for depth profiling in solid-state thin films with nanometre resolution. The lateral point-to-point resolution of the total-reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometer used was determined as 200 ± 10 μm by means of standard samples (Cr bars on Si). At an inclination angle in the range of 10⁻⁴ degrees for the ramp, which has been produced by ion beam etching, the geometrically covered depth is in the range of 1 nm. In order to demonstrate the potential of the new technique, preliminary results on Cu/Cr multilayers on Si substrate are presented.