Time-of-Flight Telescope for ERDA at the HZDR

Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) is a near-surface heavy ion beam based elemental characterization technique, known especially for its suitability for light element analysis of thin films. The elemental composition of an unknown sample can be determined quantitatively in a single measurement, without resorting to the use of standards or information from additional measurements or models.

In the Ion Beam Center (IBC) of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf a Bragg Ionization Chamber (BIC) based ERDA setup has been operated successfully for many years. In the past there has also been a time-of-flight telescope installed in the same chamber. During 2017 this instrument will be upgraded with new detectors, bringing it up to date with latest experimental developments in the field.

The goal for the project is first and foremost to construct a user-friendly instrument, which can be operated reliably. Special emphasis will be put to the achievable depth resolution, without sacrificing performance in other areas. The instrument can be operated with a relatively broad energy range, with lower incident beam energy (< 10 MeV) enabling high depth resolution (2 nm) near the surface and higher energies, e.g. 20 MeV, enable excellent mass separation and better probing depth for thicker films.

In this contribution we will present the basic idea of the new setup and give some particular details on the design, expected performance and a realization time line.