SIMS INVESTIGATIONS ON THE SYSTEM NBHN(D-N) (O-LESS-THAN-N-LESS-THAN-1)

SIMS measurements have been carried out to study the emission behavior of hydrogen/deuterium specific secondary ions from NbHn(D-n) samples as a function of the hydrogen/deuterium content for 0<n<1. The detecti on sensitivity of hydrogen/deuterium is extremely high, especially at small concentrations. For all concentrations, the Nb2H+(D+) ion is the most intense hydrogen/deuterium specific signal when bombarding with inert gas ions (Ar+ or Kr+). The interpretation of the SIMS spectra ob tained for high hydrogen/deuterium contents is obviously facilitated b y the fact that the ion beam bombardment does not influence the surfac e composition, as is the case for samples with small concentrations, w here an ion bombardment induced segregation of hydrogen/deuterium to t he surface leads to a hydrogen/deuterium enrichment in the near-surfac e region.