Quantitative TOF-SIMS analysis of metal contamination on silicon wafers

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) is one of the mos t promising candidates for high sensitivity surface analysis, in line with the requirements reported by the 1997 Semiconductor Industry Association (S IA) roadmap. However, the data quantification is not straightforward becaus e of strong matrix effects and must be still completely developed. This wor k aims at obtaining TOF-SIMS calibration for the quantification of metals o n oxidized silicon wafers. Standards with different amounts of various elem ents are prepared by dipping and spinning methods. TOF-SIMS results are com pared with TXRF, VPD-AAS and other techniques. The required uniformity and reproducibility of the standards are discussed, as well as the TOF-SIMS exp erimental set-up and the sampling strategy for the comparison between diffe rent techniques. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.