Investigation of static SIMS signal enhancement by halide acid substrate treatment

The enhancement of the (M + H)(+) static secondary ion mass spectrometry (s tatic SIMS) signal intensity resulting from pretreatment of silver sample s ubstrates with aqueous halide acids was studied. Surface coverage experimen ts with silver halide surfaces prepared by aqueous halide acid treatment an d electrodeposition indicated that the presence of silver halides alone cou ld not account for the observed enhancement. Deuterium exchange studies sho wed that protons are adsorbed on the substrate during the acid treatment. I t is likely that these protons are responsible for the improvement of stati c SIMS signal intensity by promoting the formation of (M + H)(+) species. C opyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.