Fundamental study of ion -substrate interactions with low energy reactive ions

The major challenge of this work is the investigation of dual beam Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) for ultra shallow depth profiling of semiconductor material, in comparison to new developments in low energy dynamic SIMS. As SIMS is a rather complicated technique, which induces also some artifacts in the samples under study, fundamental investigation is important to gain the necessary insight to correctly interpret obtained depth profiles.;Theoretical work concentrates on ion-beam induced oxidation of silicon, using the simulation program ISRD (Implantation, Sputtering, Replacement/Relocation and Diffusion). The original code is optimized for oxygen bombardment of silicon under typical SIMS measurement conditions. It is extended and validated to include the use of additional oxygen flooding. To compare the model output with SIMS profiles, an ionization model is developed as well.;Experimental TOF-SIMS work evaluates the possibilities of the technique for characterization of ultra thin dielectric layers (a few nanometers): silicon dioxides, oxynitrides, high k materials,....;We conclude that dual beam TOF-SIMS, compared to dynamic SIMS, is superior for shallow depth profiling. TOF-SIMS has also a much broader application field (surface analysis, imaging,...). The main problems are related to SIMS artifacts as such.