Status and Applications TOF-SIMS in the Helium Ion Microscope

The helium ion microscope (HIM), well known for its highresolution
imaging and nanofabrication performance, suffered
from the lack of a well integrated analytic method that can
enrich the highly detailed morphological images with materials
contrast. Recently, a magnetic sector and a time-of-flight
secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) have been developed
that can be retrofitted to existing microscopes [1,2].
We report on our time-of-flight setup using a straight secondary
ion extraction optics that has been designed and
optimized for highest transmission. The high efficiency is
the most crucial parameter to collect enough signal from
nanoparticles prior to their complete removal by ion sputtering.
As a major advantage the time-of-flight approach
inherently can measure all masses in parallel and thus provides
the complete picture of the sample composition. The
TOF-SIMS is a versatile add-on that helps the user to get
previously unknown details about his samples and is therefore
beneficial for many applications. At the end we will also
give an outlook on future developments.

[1] Klingner, N.; Heller, R.; Hlawacek, G.; von Borany, J.;
Notte, J. A.; Huang, J. and Facsko, S.; Nanometer scale
elemental analysis in the helium ion microscope using time
of flight spectrometry, Ultramicroscopy 162(2016): 91-97.
[2] Klingner, N.; Heller, R.; Hlawacek, G.; Facsko, S. and von
Borany, J.; Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry
in the helium ion microscope, Ultramicroscopy 198(2019),
10-17