Application Example www.tescan.com Introduction The TOF-SIMS analyser detects the secondary ions emitted from a specimen during FIB milling (no additional ionisation source is necessary). These secondary ions are focused and transferred to the TOF-SIMS analyser by the TOF ion optics system. In the TOF-SIMS analyser, the ions are separated according to their time of flight and detected. The SEM part of the system is usually used for easy navigation on the sample and, if necessary, for charge compensation. Applications The FIB - induced secondary ions are generated, frame by frame, from an increasing depth in the specimen. Therefore, their analysis is an effective way to determine the chemical composition of the specimen and its variation with depth (depth profiling). An example of an oxygen gradient in a CrN film on a WC-Co substrate is given in Fig 2. The user not only obtains the depth profile and the total spectrum, which is integrated from all the frames, but may also generate The unique combination of an FIB-SEM system from TESCAN and a Time-of-Flight (TOF) Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (SIMS) from TOFWERK represents a novel and cost-effective solution for material analysis. The user of the system is provided with information on the material composition (including light elements) and distribution of individual elements in the analysed volume. The integrated analyser can detect various trace elements, often at concentrations of a few ppm, and distinguish individual isotopes. The cutting-edge analytical solution LYRA3 FIB-SEM with integrated TOF-SIMS analyser c Fig. 1: LYRA3 with TOF-SIMS c Fig. 2: An example of (a) a crater after TOF-SIMS analysis (analysed volume), (b) depth profile with an element distribution map (side view) of oxygen and (c) spectra from the specimen (negative ions were detected) c Fig. 3: Volume selection – an illustration 2a 2b 2c spectra from selected regions (e.g. a few frames) and compare them - the regions can be specified using the Top view and Side view cross-section images (Fig. 3). Another significant advantage of TOF-SIMS is that the interaction volume of the secondary ions is smaller than the interaction volume of X-rays generated by the electron beam. Therefore, TOF-SIMS offers a considerably better resolution than energy / wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS / WDS). Moreover, its detection limit is incomparably better. For example, boron in silicon can be detected at a concentration of a few ppm. Thus, TOF-SIMS was chosen for the detection and mapping of secondary phase Fe / Cr particles, with dimensions of