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SIMS Theory: Ion Beam Sputtering
The bombarding primary ion beam produces monatomic and polyatomic particles of sample material and resputtered primary ions, along with electrons and photons. The secondary particles carry negative, positive, and neutral charges and they have kinetic energies that range from zero to several hundred eV.
Primary beam species useful in SIMS include Cs+, O2+, O , Ar+, and Ga+ at energies between 1 and 30 keV. Primary ions are implanted and mix with sample atoms to depths of 1 to 10 nm.
Sputter rates in typical SIMS experiments vary between 0.5 and 5 nm/s. Sputter rates depend on primary beam intensity, sample material, and crystal orientation.
The sputter yield is the ratio of the number of atoms sputtered to the number of impinging primary ions. Typical SIMS sputter yields fall in a range from 5 and 15.
