Study of Silicon and the Transition Layer between Titanium and Titanium Oxide by Laser-Assisted Atom Probe Tomography

Monitoring the characteristics of nanoscale objects is a necessary step in the development of new materials and complex low-dimensional systems. Atom-probe tomography is among the few methods that allow one to study nanoscale objects with a complex chemical composition. However, preliminary optimization of the instrument parameters is necessary for each speciment to obtain the most accurate characteristics of the materials. In this study, the results of optimization of conditions for the analysis of silicon and the titanium-titanium-oxide transition layer on a APPLE-3D atom-probe tomograph with the purpose of refining the atom-probe-tomography technique for metal-semiconductor structures are presented. The optimal laser-pulse power for studying mixtures of these materials is determined. The atomic structure of the titanium-titanium-oxide interface layer is visualized, and the concentration profiles of evaporated Ti and TiOx ions in the transition layer are obtained.