A TOF-SIMS nanoprobe with sub-10 nm lateral resolution

The Helium Ion Microscopes (HIM) provides spot sizes up to 0.5 nm for Helium and 1.8 nm for Neon ion beams. The method is well known for its high resolution imaging and nano-fabrication capabilities which it is able to provide not only for conducting but also insulating samples without the need for a conductive coating.

We designed, implemented and reported on the first time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) add-on that can be retrofitted to existing microscopes [1, 2, 3]. It is based on fast blanking electronics that chop the primary beam into pulses with a minimal length of 20 ns. An ion optic has been designed and optimized for high extraction and transmission efficiency of sputtered secondary ions. The high transmission is crucial to collect enough signal from nano-particles prior to their complete removal by ion sputtering. Currently the sample will be tilted towards the extraction optic and will be constantly biased to +/- 500 V to accelerate the ions into the extraction nozzle.

The setup can obtain SIMS data from a region of interest or can be used in imaging mode to obtain elemental line profiles and maps of the surface. The beam resolution has been evaluated to 8 nm using the knife edge method, and unpulsed beam and a 75%/25% criterion. We will show an outlook on adding a delayed secondary ion extraction.

References

[1] Klingner, N.; Heller, R.; Hlawacek, G.; von Borany, J.; Notte, J. A.; Huang, J. and Facsko, S. (2016). Nanometer scale elemental analysis in the helium ion microscope using time of flight spectrometry, Ultramicroscopy 162, 91-97.

[2] Heller, R.; Klingner, N.; Hlawacek, G. (2016). Backscattering Spectrometry in the Helium Ion Microscope: Imaging Elemental Compositions on the nm Scale. In: Hlawacek, G. & Gölzhäuser, A. (Ed.), Helium Ion Microsc., Springer International.

[3] Klingner, N.; Heller, R.; Hlawacek, G.; Facsko, S. and von Borany, J.; (2019) Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry in the helium ion microscope, Ultramicroscopy 198, 10-17