2009 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 287-290
Sputter depth profiling of inorganic materials using X-ray Photoelectron Spectrocopy (XPS) has become a standard analytical technique. Generally the quantitative elemental and chemical depth distribution of species can be obtained from the sample surface to several microns into the sample relatively quickly with good interface resolution. It is obviously desirable to achieve the same performance on organic materials, however, there are several well known problems associated with sputter depth profiling of organics which has limited its application. The Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) community have pioneered the use of polyatomic ion sources (in particular C60) to increase ion yields from organic materials. This use of C60 has been extended to XPS depth profiling and for some materials has shown good results. This paper discusses the characterization and optimization of another polyatomic species that is showing considerable promise for XPS depth profiling of organic materials.
