Ef. Aguilera et al., GENERAL-METHOD FOR THICKNESS DETERMINATION OF THIN BACKED FILMS - NEWFORMULATION OF BACKSCATTERING SPECTROMETRY, Revista Mexicana de Fisica, 41(4), 1995, pp. 507-523
On the basis of the global energy change of particles going through a
film, which are backscattered from the surface of the film backing, a
general method is described to determine the thickness of thin films d
eposited on thick substrates. Using a range formulation of the process
, three analytic approximations and a quite fast computer program. to
calculate the exact value are developed. Supporting measurements are p
erformed on 14 targets using carbon beams. For the particular situatio
n of a substrate with a heavier atomic mass than the film, precisions
on the order of 1% can be obtained if uncertainties in the range data
are disregarded. Comparison with other methods which are either much m
ore complex, or of more limited applicability, gives consistent result
s.