Composition Quantification of SiGeSn Alloys Through Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry: Calibration Methodologies and Validation With Atom Probe Tomography

Zhao, Haochen; Liu, Shang; Park, Suho; Feng, Xu; Zeng, Zhaoquan; Kolodzey, James; Yu, Shui-Qing; Liu, Jifeng; Zeng, Yuping

doi:10.1109/jstqe.2024.3456439

Composition Quantification of SiGeSn Alloys Through Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry: Calibration Methodologies and Validation With Atom Probe Tomography

Journal Article · Mon Sep 09 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/jstqe.2024.3456439· OSTI ID:2453870

^[1]; Liu, Shang ^[2]; Park, Suho ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[3]; Kolodzey, James ^[1]; ^[4]; ^[2]; ^[1]

University of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States)
II-VI/Coherent Corp., Warren, NJ (United States)
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)

Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is a powerful technique for elemental compositional analysis and depth profiling of materials. However, it encounters the problem of matrix effects that hinder its application. In this work, we introduce a pioneering ToF-SIMS calibration method tailored for SixGeySnz ternary alloys. SixGe1-x and Ge1-zSnz binary alloys with known compositions are used as calibration reference samples. Through a systematic SIMS quantification study of SiGe and GeSn binary alloys, we unveil a linear correlation between secondary ion intensity ratio and composition ratio for both SiGe and GeSn binary alloys, effectively mitigating the matrix effects. Extracted relative sensitivity factor (RSF) value from SixGe1-x (0.07 < x < 0.83) and Ge1-zSnz (0.066 < z < 0.183) binary alloys are subsequently applied to those of SixGeySnz (0.011 < x < 0.113, 0.863 < y < 0.935 and 0.023 < z < 0.103) ternary alloys for elemental compositions quantification. These values are cross-checked by Atom Probe Tomography (APT) analysis, an indication of the great accuracy and reliability of as-developed ToF-SIMS calibration process. Furthermore, the proposed method and its reference sample selection strategy in this work provide a low-cost as well as simple-to-follow calibration route for SiGeSn composition analysis, thus driving the development of next-generation multifunctional SiGeSn-related semiconductor devices.

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This content will become publicly available on Tue Sep 09 00:00:00 EDT 2025

Research Organization:: Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0023412; DMR-2116754; 2328840

OSTI ID:: 2453870

Journal Information:: IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 31, Issue 1; ISSN 1077-260X

Publisher:: IEEE Lasers and Electro-optics SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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