High Depth Resolution Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry with a Magnet Spectrometer: Implementation and Application to Thin Film Analysis

Abstract

The High-resolution RBS (HRBS) endstation in CIBA offers thin film analyses with sub-nanometer resolution through a detection system which consists of a spectrometer magnet and a Micro-Channel Plate - Focal Plane Detector (MCP-FPD) assembly. In this thesis, analytical and numerical studies of the spectrometer ion optics were conducted and their results compared to the actual magnet response to ensure the accuracy and quality of the HRBS output spectra. A novel method was developed to correct for the gain variation along the length of the MCP, which is caused by variations in its electron-multiplication gain and physical dimensions. Thin Lu2O3/Si films are of scientific interest as Lu2O3 is a candidate for the next-generation gate dielectric in Metal-Oxide Field Emission Transistors. Ultra-thin Lu2O3/Si films were characterized using HRBS depth profiling in this thesis. The interfacial Si lattice strain imposed by the Lu2O3 film was also measured using the channeling technique.