Combined electron and focused ion beam system for improvement of secondary ion yield in secondary ion mass spectrometry instrument

Using a combined electron and focused ion beam system to improve performance of secondary ion mass spectrometry instruments has been investigated experimentally. The secondary ion yield for an Al target has been enhanced to about one order of magnitude higher with the postionization induced by the low energy electrons in the combined beam. It can be further improved with the increase of electron beam current. When the combined beam is applied to insulating targets, sample charging is also eliminated. For Teflon targets, the secondary ion signal is increased by more than a factor of 20. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.