Course Objectives

• Understanding the Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) principles
• Know different types of instrumentation and analytical capabilities
• Learn how to obtain quantitative and qualitative analyses
• Learn about measurement interpretation and evaluate analysis artifact
• Know SIMS applications in different fields

Course description
The course begins with an introductory overview on SIMS history and development. SIMS is discussed and compared to other analytical techniques such as XPS, Auger, RBS etc. The SIMS process is examined in terms of the basic physics processes principles on the base are pointed out and examined. Base instrumentation characteristics are introduced with a detailed description or mains part: ion source, mass analyzer, detector and vacuum system. The most common types of instrumentation are described (classic and new magnetic sector, quadrupole ToF SIMS) and the main characteristics are pointed out.
SIMS possible results are described (mass spectra, ion images, depth profiles, line scans) and dynamic vs static approach is compared.
Analyses parameter and their effects on the results are widely discussed, with a particular effort on depth profile measurements. Depth resolution, lateral resolution, accuracy, precision, mass resolution, sensitivity and other concepts will be explained and discussed.
Depth profile analyses quantification procedure is discussed in detail. Matrix and surface effects and artifact impacts are described.
Applications are presented on the use of SIMS techniques on different fields. Specific and request cases will be considered and discussed.


Who should attend?
Engineers scientists technicians who wish to obtain a practical and update understanding of surface characterization by SIMS.

Instructor: Massimo Bersani ITC-irst, Trento Italy

Course materials: Course Notes
People willing to attend the course could send samples (at least two months before the beginning of the course) that could be analyzed by the research staff at IRST-ITC. The resulting SIMS data will be discussed during the short course. Please get in touch with the instructor for further instructions

Short curriculum

Massimo Bersani received the degree in Physics from Physics Department of Modena University (Italy) in 1993, thesis title Interactions between PbO and Ceramic Substrates, with Prof. M. Prudenziati Postdoctoral fellow of ST Microelectronics at CMBM (Materials Centre and Medical Biophysics) Advanced Material Division, Povo-Trento, Italy . (1994-1997). Since 1997 he is a staff researcher at the FCS Division of ITC-irst (Povo, Trento, Italy). At the present he is the Project Leader for analytical and methodological development on microelectronics materials and processes, comprising 7 staff members 2 dynamic SIMS instruments, one TOF-SIMS instrument, one XPS and two AFM. Over 30 publications in International Conference proceedings and journals. He is the ITC-IRST reference person for two European project In Line SIMS (ILSIMS) and Ion Implantation at Ultra-Low Energy for Future Semiconductor Devices (IMP.U.L.SE).

Questions? bersani@itc.it