With the TOF.SIMS 5 IONTOF offers a field proven and efficient TOF-SIMS tool which still outperforms most of its external rivals. The current design guarantees good performance in all fields of SIMS applications, making it an extremely attractive SIMS tool for customers in industry and academia.

Due to the modular design, the instruments can be configured with a selection of optimised ion guns, sample preparation facilities and a variety of special accessories in order to address even the most challenging analytical tasks. The computer control of all instrument functions and parameters ensures ease-of-use and a high level of automation.

The basic instrument is equipped with a reflectron TOF analyser giving high secondary ion transmission with high mass resolution, a sample chamber with a 5-axis manipulator (x, y, z, rotation and tilt) for flexible navigation, a fast entry load-lock, charge compensation for the analysis of insulators, a secondary electron detector for SEM imaging, a state-of-the-art vacuum system, and an extensive computer package for automation and data handling.

The TOF.SIMS 5 is equipped with a gridless reflectron type Time-of-Flight analyser. The non-linear reflectron design provides high transmission and high mass resolution in positive and negative SIMS. No apertures or slits need to be narrowed to achieve this level of mass resolution. The instrument operates with full transmission all the time.

All IONTOF SIMS instruments use a special secondary ion detector with a single channelplate-scintillator-photomultiplier combination. The lifetime of such a detector is about 1,000 times higher than for conventional dual channelplate detectors. The detector can also process high count rates without suffering from detector degradation. Hence blanking of intense matrix ion peaks is not necessary at all. In combination with the patented IONTOF EDR technology the TOF.SIMS 5 provides a dynamic range of up to seven orders of magnitude.

The Bi Nanoprobe is the standard primary ion source for all high-performance spectrometry, imaging and depth profiling applications. The source provides high analysis currents of up to 20 pA for trace detection spectrometry and high-end depth profiling.

In the fast imaging mode, it is possible to acquire the image with a slightly reduced lateral resolution within a few minutes. The image on the right shows the analysis of the BAM standard sample in fast imaging mode.

In the ultimate imaging mode, the beam spot size can be reduced to well below 70 nm for excellent high-resolution images. The image on the left shows the analysis of a BAM standard sample.

The characterisation of organic layer systems is of increasingly high technological and commercial interest. The use of large argon clusters as sputter species in Time-of-Flight SIMS experiments allows the depth profiling of most organic materials to be carried out whilst retaining the intact molecular information during the profile. With the fully integrated gas cluster ion source IONTOF provides a comprehensive solution for many organic SIMS applications.

Large argon cluster ions can also very successfully be applied as primary ion projectiles in TOF-SIMS.The unique IONTOF 90° pulsing system of the gas cluster source enables the generation of short primary ion pulses for high mass resolution surface spectrometry and allows the variation of the applied cluster sizes from 250 to 10000 atoms/cluster.

This opens up the possibility to study the effects of using primary ion beams with an energy of down to 2 eV per cluster atom in detail and investigate the influence of the cluster size on the spectra appearance, the fragmentation and the secondary ion yield.

In a TOF-SIMS experiment the primary ion beam is pulsed to get good mass resolution. Consequently, the current density and also the resulting erosion speed is very low (< 0.1 nm/min). Therefore, depth profiling with a TOF-SIMS instrument is done in the so-called dual beam mode. While the first beam is sputtering a crater, the second beam is progressively analysing the crater bottom.

The key advantage of the dual beam mode is the possibility to adjust the analysis and the sputter parameter independently, e. g. the combination of a low energy sputter beam of O2 or Cs to increase the yield of positively and negatively charged secondary ions, with a high-energy, well-focussed beam of the cluster LMIG. A further advantage is the possibility to combine both analysis and sputter phase within one analysis cycle.

The TOF.SIMS 5 can be operated at a repetition rate of up to 50 kHz in this interlaced mode which guarantees the highest possible data rates and optimum sample structure sampling. The DSC-S is a high current ion optical column to which two ion sources, one electron impact ion source and one thermal ionization Cesium ion source may be fitted.