EAG Application Solutions for Contamination

Contamination, defined as any substance found in a location where it should not be, can dramatically impact manufacturing processes. Therefore, it is critical that companies keep it under control, which is why a large portion of materials characterization involves contamination analysis.

Which technique you choose depends on the nature of the contamination and the purpose of the analysis. Is the contaminant organic or inorganic? Do you expect a large amount of contamination or a little? Is the contamination generally distributed, localized, or particulate? Is it on the surface, in a layer, at an interface, or in the bulk? Do you need parts-per-million (ppm) detection limits or just major components?

Technique Options

Following is a sampling of available techniques based on contamination type, along with what the technique is capable of rendering:

• Particles

• Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) (at %, >0.5µm)
• Auger Electron Spectroscopy (at %, >200 Angstroms)
• Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) (>15µm, organic)
• Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS)

• Residues

• Auger Electron Spectroscopy (at %, >200 Angstroms)
• FTIR (at %, organic)
• X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)
• Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS)

• Discolorations, Stains

• XPS (at %, chemical)
• Auger (at %, small area)
• TOF-SIMS (ppm, organic)

• Haze

• Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) (imaging)
• Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) (imaging)
• TOF-SIMS
• XPS

• Layer

• SEM-EDX (at %, >0.5µm)
• XPS (at %, elemental only)
• Auger (at %, small area)
• Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) (ppm, >10µm)

• Bulk

  • X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) (ppm, >3µm)

Application Notes