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- EDS (3)
- Acceptance area (2)
- FWHM (2)
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- Parallelising mode (2)
- Polycapillary X-ray optics (2)
- SEM (2)
- Semi-lens (2)
- Test material (2)
- Transmission (2)
Eingeladener Vortrag
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A calibration procedure for the detection efficiency of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS) used in combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for standardless electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) is presented. The procedure is based on the comparison of X-ray spectra from a reference material (RM) measured with the EDS to be calibrated and a reference EDS. The RM is certified by the line intensities in the X-ray spectrum recorded with a reference EDS and by its composition. The calibration of the reference EDS is performed using synchrotron radiation at the radiometry laboratory of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. Measurement of RM spectra and comparison of the specified line intensities enables a rapid efficiency calibration on most SEMs. The article reports on studies to prepare such a RM and on EDS calibration and proposes a methodology that could be implemented in current spectrometer software to enable the calibration with a minimum of operator assistance.
Nanotechnologien werden gegenwärtig als leistungsfähige Oberflächentechniken in erheblichem Umfange industriell genutzt. Dabei spielen dünne Schichten und deren Kenndaten eine wesentliche Rolle, z.B. als Röntgenspiegel oder optische und magnetooptische Datenträger. Die Schichtdicke zählt hierbei zu den technologisch wichtigen Parametern. Abgeleitet von Anwenderinteressen, werden für die Röntgenreflektometrie (XRR bzw. GIXR), Elektronenstrahl-Mikroanalyse (EPMA) und Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse (XRF) einerseits und die Ellipsometrie andererseits zugeschnittene Schichtdickenmaßverkörperungen (SDM) entwickelt, gefertigt und untersucht. Das Ziel ist die Bereitstellung praxistauglicher, kalibrierter SDM, im weiteren Schichtdickennormale (SDN) genannt. SDN sind Maßverkörperungen, für die der Schichtdickenwert mit einer definierten Messunsicherheit bekannt und auf ein metrologisch anerkanntes Längennormal zurückgeführt ist. Berichtet wird über die Herstellung und messtechnische Charakterisierung der beiden spezifischen Varianten von Maßverkörperungen.
Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) measurement of thin-film thickness in the nanometre range
(2002)
The thickness of thin films of platinum and nickel on fused silica and silicon substrates has been determined by EPMA using the commercial software STRATAGEM for calculation of film thickness. Film thickness ranged in the order 10 nm. An attempt was made to estimate the confidence range of the method by comparison with results from other methods of analysis. The data show that in addition to the uncertainty of the spectral intensity measurement and the complicated fitting routine, systematic deviation caused by the underlying model should be added. The scattering in the results from other methods does not enable specification of a range of uncertainty, but deviations from the real thickness are estimated to be less than 20%.
High-accuracy film thickness measurements in the range below 100 nm can be made by various complex methods like spectral ellipsometry (SE), scanning force microscopy (SFM), grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry (GIXR), or X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF). The measurement results achieved with these methods are based on different interactions between the film and the probe. A key question in nanotechnology is how to achieve consistent results on a level of uncertainty below one nanometre with different techniques.
Two different types of thickness standards are realised. Metal film standards for X-ray techniques in the thickness range 10 to 50 nm are calibrated by GIXR with monochromatised synchrotron radiation of 8048 eV. The results obtained at four different facilities show excellent agreement. SiO2 on Si standards for SE and SFM in the thickness range 6 to 1000 nm are calibrated by GIXR with monochromatised synchrotron radiation of 1841 eV and with a metrological SFM. Consistent results within the combined uncertainties are obtained with the two methods. Surfaces and interfaces of both types of standards are additionally investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
The accurate knowledge of the properties of polycapillary X-ray semi-lenses has a significant influence on the quantitative results in a widespread field of applications involving microfocus X-ray beams. A routine procedure for the characterisation of a polycapillary X-ray semi-lens with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) having attached an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) is presented in this paper. A key issue of the procedure consists of fitting the semi-lens in front of the EDS for spectra acquisition. Relevant semi-lens parameters such as focal distance, full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the acceptance area, and transmission are determined in parallelising mode of the semi-lens. Special attention has been paid to the calculation of the transmission.
A test material for routine performance evaluation of energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS) is presented. It consists of a synthetic, thick coating of C, Al, Mn, Cu, and Zr, in an elemental composition that provides interference-free characteristic X-ray lines of similar intensities at 10 kV scanning electron microscope voltage. The EDS energy resolution at the C-K, Mn-Lα, Cu-Lα, Al-K, Zr-Lα, and Mn-Kα lines, the calibration state of the energy scale, and the Mn-Lα/Mn-Kα intensity ratio as a measure for the low-energy detection efficiency are calculated by a dedicated software package from the 10 kV spectrum. Measurements at various input count rates and processor shaping times enable an estimation of the operation conditions for which the X-ray spectrum is not yet corrupted by pile-up events. Representative examples of EDS systems characterized with the test material and the related software are presented and discussed.
An energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer operating with a semiconductor detector should be specified in compliance with the ISO standard 15632 [1]. Requirements for specification are: a) a general description of the spectrometer to evaluate its performance, b) the energy resolution with corresponding dead time, c) the P/B ratio in the Fe55 spectrum and, finally, d) the L/K intensity Ratio in a Ni or Cu spectrum to estimate spectrometer efficiency at low energies. Items b) to d) can be easily checked by the user. Related procedures are recommended in the annexes of the standard.