Using the recently developed SIMS-SPM prototype, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) data was combined with topographical data from the scanning probe microscopy (SPM) module for five test structures in order to obtain accurate chemical 3D maps: a polystyrene/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PS/PVP) polymer blend, a nickel-based super-alloy, a titanium carbonitride-based cermet, a reticle test structure and Mg(OH)2 nanoclusters incorporated inside a polymer matrix. The examples illustrate the potential of this combined approach to track and eliminate artefacts related to inhomogeneities of the sputter rates (caused by samples containing various materials, different phases or having a non-flat surface) and inhomogeneities of the secondary ion extraction efficiencies due to local field distortions (caused by topography with high aspect ratios). In this respect, this paper presents the measured relative sputter rates between PVP and PS as well as in between the different phases of the TiCN cermet.
Keywords: SIMS artefacts; alloy; atomic force microscopy (AFM); correlative microscopy; differential sputtering; in situ; multimodal imaging; nano-cluster; polymer blend; scanning probe microscopy (SPM); secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS); sputter rate; sputter-induced effects.