Modern materials, among which layered structures play a significant role, have many applications. Such structures are used for example in photovoltaic panels or the surface of advanced cutting tools. This type of layers can be tested and characterised using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The characterisation of such structures is very important in the selection of conditions for layer application processes. The process engineer is usually interested in these parameters, such as the concentration of elements in the layer and their thickness.
Testing the structures using the SIMS method is based on the use of the phenomenon of ion sputtering on the examined material by the ion beam bombarding it. The ion sputtering leads to the development of a stream of neutral entities as well as a stream of secondary ions. The spectrometric analysis focuses on the secondary ions. The ion beam removes the material layer by layer and thus it is possible to obtain a two- or three-dimensional image of the arrangement of the individual elements in the structure tested.
