Depth profiling of NbxO/W multilayers: effect of primary ion beam species (O2+, Ar+ and Cs+)

Depth profiling of NbxO/W multilayered samples was carried out using O2+, Cs+ or Ar+ beams of different energies (2 keV, 1 keV and 0.5 keV). The obtained depth profiles showed that sputtering with O2+ or Ar+ beams can reveal the distribution of light elements, while sputtering with Cs+ cannot show correctly their distribution if lower energy of 0.5 keV is applied. SRIM simulations show that changes in primary energy of sputter ions have much stronger effect on deposited energy incl. vacancy/ion and sputter yields than for oxygen and argon ion beam etching. It is suggested that O2+ or Ar+ sputter sources should be used when both light and heavy species are present in nano-scale multilayered targets. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.