ANALYSIS OF IRON BY PIXE USING HEAVY-ION MICROPROBES

Iron implanted silicon wafers and a stainless steel film were analyzed by PIXE using a few MeV Ni3+, Si3+ and proton microprobes. The X-ray spectra showed that the X-ray emission strongly depended on the incide nt ion species. It shows that the Si probe has a sensitivity to the Fe -L line higher than that of the proton probe. On the other hand, the p roton probe has sensitivity to the Fe-K line higher than that of the S i probe. Using a Ni probe, both Fe-L and Fe-K lines could be observed simultaneously. The Ni probe has higher sensitivity for both X-ray lin es than the other probes. Furthermore, the background level in the reg ion of the Fe-K-alpha line is much lower than in the case of the proto n probe. It is considered that molecular orbital effects took place be tween Fe and Ni atoms due to very close level matching. The energy shi ft and broadening due to multiple-ionization were observed in the X-ra y spectra of the Si and Ni impacts.