Quartz crystal microbalance-based system for high-sensitivity differential sputter yield measurements

B Rubin; J L Topper; C C Farnell; A P Yalin

doi:10.1063/1.3249560

Quartz crystal microbalance-based system for high-sensitivity differential sputter yield measurements

Rev Sci Instrum. 2009 Oct;80(10):103506. doi: 10.1063/1.3249560.

Authors

B Rubin¹, J L Topper, C C Farnell, A P Yalin

Affiliation

¹ Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.

PMID: 19895063
DOI: 10.1063/1.3249560

Abstract

We present a quartz crystal microbalance-based system for high sensitivity differential sputter yield measurements of different target materials due to ion bombardment. The differential sputter yields can be integrated to find total yields. Possible ion beam conditions include ion energies in the range of 30-350 eV and incidence angles of 0 degrees-70 degrees from normal. A four-grid ion optics system is used to achieve a collimated ion beam at low energy (<100 eV) and a two-grid ion optics is used for higher energies (up to 750 eV). A complementary weight loss approach is also used to measure total sputter yields. Validation experiments are presented that confirm high sensitivity and accuracy of sputter yield measurements.