A Comparison of Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy and Resonance Ionization Mass Spectroscopy
Perhaps the most problematic interferences in Secondary Ionization Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) are matrix effects, the often unknown relationship between the chemical composition of a solid and the secondary ion yield of an analyte in the solid. The origin of the change in this yield is not due just to the change in the chemical composition of the solid but the complex ionization chemistry of the primary ion beam/matrix sputtering process. In depth profiling through interfacial boundaries of layered, dissimilar materials, the yields, and hence relative sensitivity factors (RSFs) of many dopants can change by as much as an order of magnitude or more.