ANALYSIS OF AG-CO THIN-FILM ALLOYS USING PIXE AND RBS

The Ag-Co system representing a grain type alloy has non-mixing proper ties resulting in the formation of pure metal precipitates under certa in conditions. 50 nm thin layers of Ag1-xCox (0.35 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 0.55) on SiO2/Si substrates were analysed u sing microbeam PIXE and RES to determine whether structural changes fo llowing 600 degrees C annealing could be detected. With the aim to est imate the accuracy of proposed analytical techniques the parameters of linear model C-i(PIXE) = f(C-i(RBS)) have been statistically tested. Using a 1 mu m beam of 2 MeV protons many random point analyses were c arried out on areas ranging from 20 x 20 mu m(2) to 2000 x 2000 mu m(2 ). Statistical evaluation of this data shows differences in the Ag/Co yields ratio for annealed as well as non-annealed samples. Lateral con centration inhomogeneity on a scale less than the beam diameter can be observed within a sample according to the analysis of variance based on an F-test of many random point analyses.