ANALYSIS OF 3-DIMENSIONAL SIMS IMAGES USING IMAGE CROSS-CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY

Three-dimensional (3D) SIMS images of secondary ion distributions in a solid volume can be produced from om a stack of individual images acq uired sequentially at different depths during depth profiling of the s olid. While it is often passible to obtain visual correlations of larg e-scale features that occur in several images in the stack, the correl ation of less-obvious features requires a more mathematical approach, We present here two cases where image cross-correlation spectroscopy ( ICCS) can be used to clarify the presence or absence of organized stru cture ia a 3D depth profile. In one example, the images of deuterium d istribution in a zirconium oxide thin film were confirmed to exhibit o rder over a series of images, thereby suggesting the existence of cont inuous pores in the material. In a second example, the apparent cluste ring of gold distributions in a 3D profile of an arsenopyrite mineral was shown to be uncorrelated and likely an artefact of data collection . (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sans, Ltd.