SPUTTERED NEUTRAL MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR THE QUANTITATIVE DEPTH PRO FILING OF COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WILL INCREASE THE DEMANDS FOR SOPHISTICATED MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION. ALTHOUGH A VARIETY OF SURFACE AND MICROANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES EXIST FOR CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THESE MATERIALS, NO TECHNIQUE YET EXISTS FOR QUANTITATIVE MICROSCALE STOICHIOMETRIC ANALYSES. THE RESEARCH PROPOSED FOR PHASE I WILL EVALUATE AND DEVELOP AN APPROACH FOR THE DIRECT MICROCHARACTERIZATION OF COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR STOICHIOMETRY BY SPUTTERED NEUTRAL MASS SPECTROMETRY EMPLOYING ION SPUTTERING TO INTRODUCE ATOMS INTO A PLASMA FOR ELECTRON IMPACT IONIZATION. THUS, THE ATOMS ARE EXCITED IN AN ARGON-BASED PLASMA RATHER THAN IN THE MATERIAL ITSELF, THEREBY CIRCUMVENTING THE "MATRIX EFFECT," WHICH SERIOUSLY COMPLICATES QUANTITATIVE MAJOR CONSTITUENT ANALYSIS. THE GOAL OF PHASE I WILL BE TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF THIS TECHNIQUE AND TO EXAMINE AND EVALUATE INSTRUMENTAL CONFIGURATIONS AS THEY RELATE TO OTHER DEFENSE RELATED MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION NEEDS. A SUBSEQUENT PHASE II PROGRAM, IF FUNDED, WOULD BE TO DESIGN, ASSEMBLE, AND EVALUATE AN INSTRUMENTAL CONFIGURATION, WHILE PHASE III WILL CARRY THIS INSTRUMENTATION INTO THE COMMERCIAL MARKETPLACE.