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A new type of test sample for the determination of lateral resolution in surface analysis is presented. The certified reference material BAM-L002 Nanoscale strip pattern for length calibration and testing of lateral resolution is an embedded cross-section of epitaxially grown layers of AlxGa1-xAs and InxGa1-xAs on GaAs substrate. The surface of the sample provides a flat pattern with strip widths of 0.4-500 nm. The combination of gratings, isolated narrow strips and sharp edges of wide strips offers improved possibilities for the calibration of a length scale, the determination of lateral resolution and the optimization of instrument settings. The feasibility of the reference material for an analysis of lateral resolution is demonstrated for SIMS.
It is known that aminosilanized Si wafers may be used as microarray platforms. Results of an XPS study of a cleaning applied to Si wafers prior to aminosilanization are presented and discussed. Furthermore, the results of an aminosilanization protocol optimized in terms of nitrogen chemistry are described. After optimization of the protocol a free amine content of 94% was reached. The surface chemistry was investigated in this study by using XPS, time of flight (ToF)-SIMS and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. Reference to aminosilanization protocols reported in the literature has been made.
Lateral resolution, also called image resolution, is the most relevant quality parameter of maps and line scans. Therefore well defined procedures for the determination of lateral resolution are required. In the surface analysis community different definitions of lateral resolution are in use and there is no generally accepted method for the determination of lateral resolution which meets the demands of the state-of-the-art in surface analysis. We propose the determination of lateral resolution by imaging of well defined square-wave gratings with finely graded periods. This method enables the real time estimation of lateral resolution and the adjustment of instrument settings with respect to lateral resolution. The effect of noise and contrast on lateral resolution has been analysed by numerically simulated images of square-wave gratings. A new resolution criterion has been developed which is based on the dip-to-noise ratio and takes into account the sampling step width by introducing a "reduced noise". The contrast transfer function has been introduced and its relation to lateral resolution in the presence of noise was analysed. For that reason an "effective cut-off frequency" was defined which is the reciprocal of the lateral resolution. Normalized values of lateral resolution and their relation to signal-to-noise ratio and sampling step width were given for Gaussian and Lorentzian line spread functions. These values enable the calculation of experimental parameters which are necessary to get a required value of lateral resolution. Finally the successful application of the proposed approach to determine lateral resolution has been demonstrated by ToF-SIMS element mapping of the certified reference material BAM-L200.
Imaging ToF-SIMS has been applied to characterize the surface chemistry variations across small areas produced by a DBD-type plasma printing technique on a BOPP substrate using pure nitrogen and a nitrogen-hydrogen gas mixture. CH4N+ and CNO- secondary ions are detected with high yields remote from the discharge region. They are discussed to be due to surface modifications of the substrate by metastable gas-phase species. On the other hand, surface species exist that are preferentially formed by reactions of the substrate with short-lived species which are only present close to the plasma discharge region. A C3H8O+ secondary fragment ion is assumed to be a key fragment of such a surface species.
The chemical composition of the functional surfaces of substrates used for microarrays is one of the important parameters that determine the quality of a microarray experiment. In addition to the commonly used contact angle measurements to determine the wettability of functionalized supports, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) are more specific methods to elucidate details about the chemical surface constitution. XPS yields information about the atomic composition of the surface, whereas from ToF-SIMS, information on the molecular species on the surface can be concluded. Applied on printed DNA microarrays, both techniques provide impressive chemical images down to the micrometer scale and can be utilized for label-free spot detection and characterization. Detailed information about the chemical constitution of single spots of microarrays can be obtained by high-resolution XPS imaging.
Recently, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) instrumentation has been used to address areas of interest within micro-fluidic devices providing full access to the surface chemistry established at the bottom of micro-channels therein. After careful calibration, information on surface chemistry as obtained by ToF-SIMS or XPS can be interpreted in terms of wettability expressed as contact angles which are then characteristic for the inner walls of micro-channels. Standard contact angle measurement is not applicable in micro-channels. The approach has been demonstrated to be successful with two different micro-fluidic devices hot embossed into high-end quality poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or Polycarbonate wafers. A pre-selected surface chemistry at micro-channel walls can be established by plasma technologies but ageing and rinsing effects have to be under control. A combination of ToF-SIMS, XPS and contact angle measurement techniques has been demonstrated to provide the required information. Finally, it is shown by ToF-SIMS and XPS analysis that in the production of micro-fluidic parts during practical processing using hot embossing technologies, material originating from cover foils will reside on the polymer wafer's surface. Moreover, residues of releasing agents as silicone oil used during processing can be detected by ToF-SIMS. Both cover foil residues and silicones are issues of trouble shooting in micro-fluidics because they will change contact angles efficiently.
Pure and PDMS contaminated PS oligomers films were investigated both by time-of-flight static secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SSIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
The secondary ion spectra from the PDMS contaminated PS oligomers were almost completely related to PDMS. XPS revealed a PDMS contamination characterized by a silicon surface concentration of 6 at.%. Obviously siloxane contaminants existing on the surface of a silicon wafer may diffuse towards the PS oligomers outermost surface resulting in a rather high PDMS surface concentration of about 85%. Due to the known differences in the information depth and sensitivity of SSIMS and XPS very different detection limits are to be considered.
In elimination of siloxane contaminants by ultrasonication in hexane was found to be an effective way. Another common organic cleaning procedure, which is ultrasonication in trichloroethylene (TCE), subsequently in isopropanol and finally in acetone was found to be ineffective for cleaning of PDMS contaminated silicon wafers.
A pilot study (PS) has been performed under the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM) / Surface Analysis Working Group (SAWG) with the objective to compare the atomic fractions of Cu, In, Ga and Se in CIGS alloy films. Four polycrystalline CIGS films with different atomic fractions were fabricated by variation of the relative atomic fraction of Ga on 100 mm x 100 mm soda-lime glass (SLG) substrates. Similar to real solar cells the atomic fractions of the four elements (Cu, In, Ga, Se) are not homogeneous with depth. For the analysis of the CIGS layers of about 2 μm thickness depth profiling with surface analysis techniques such as XPS, AES and SIMS was recommended. A CIGS alloy reference sample with atomic fractions certified by isotope dilution ICP-MS at KRISS has been also put at disposal by the coordinator of the comparison. The certified values were close to the atomic fractions of the samples to be analyzed. Hence, the atomic fractions of Cu, In, Ga and Se in the CIGS films could be determined by the relative sensitivity factors (RSF) derived from the reference CIGS film. The total ion intensities of the constituent elements were obtained by the total number counting (TNC) method.