Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS)

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) is a powerful technique for determining the surface and near-surface composition in a wide range of solid materials.

Able to detect elements ranging from hydrogen to uranium in the parts per billion range, SIMS has been used for research appications as diverse as studying: toxic trace elements contained in coal and ash samples from power stations to understanding photo-catalytic semiconductor materials capable of solar-powered production of hydrogen fuels from seawater.

Applications for Industry and Research

SIMS has a variety of practical applications for industrial purposes. It's versatility across a range of samples including semiconductors, geological, mining and environmental, allow it to solve many surface related problems. Listed below are just a few of the areas of SIMS applications.

Semiconductors
Semiconductor depth-profiling is a common application. SIMS gives good depth resolution, as well as high sensitivity to impurities. Depth profiling allows the layer profile of a device to be examined and compared to the growth parameters, to examine for example possible diffusion profiles or contamination at device interfaces. With the provision of appropriate standards, quantification of the data can be performed. (PDF information brochure)

Materials
Materials analysis is a common application of SIMS. The uses are wide-ranging, varying from depth profiling of diffusion regions, contaminants or deliberately introduced species, to mass scans and detection of particular species. SIMS is particularly suited to analysis of surface or near-surface distributions of species. Materials vary from stainless steels, through ceramics, battery cathodes, solar cells and glass. (PDF information brochure)

Geology and Mining
Geological applications centre mainly around isotopic ratio measurements such as d 34S/32S measurements measuring for mass fractionation effects. Another common isotopic measurement is d 180/160 Other areas of interest may include analysis for minerals processing techniques which help determine the effectiveness and/or the mechanism of mineral extraction. Rare Earth Element (REE) analysis is another SIMS application to the geological field. (PDF information brochure)

Biology
With appropriate sample preparation, SIMS may be used for the analysis of biological materials. Applications include imaging of elemental distributions in biological material, and detection of the presence of heavy metals in biological material such as crocodile bone. (PDF information brochure)

For more information contact:

Dr Kathryn Prince - SIMS Manager
T: +61 2 9717 9217
E: kathryn.prince@ansto.gov.au