Use of post-ionisation techniques to complement SIMS analysis. A review with practical aspects

Abstract

Various ionization techniques for Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry (SNMS) (e-beam SNMS, plasma SNMS, laser SNMS in the non resonant and resonant modes) are reviewed as well as their ability to complement Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). After a brief introduction on the basic principles of SIMS and SNMS, the ionization techniques are compared in terms of their useful yield and ionization efficiency. Several applications from the literature for spectroscopic, imaging and profiling will be given.