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Thickness analysis of nanometer thin films based on electron yields

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Abstract

Determination of the thickness of a nanometer thin film is an important topic in the nanostructure characterization field. Currently, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the ellipsometer have been used to analyze the film thickness. This work proposes another thickness measurement method based on secondary electron (SE) and backscattered electron (BE) yields which are produced by an electron beam with a certain energy. Through comprehensively analyzing a lot of simulated data of the ratio of SE to BE yields at different primary energies and overlayer thicknesses for a variety of overlayer/substrate structures, a semiempirical formula was obtained for the film thickness determination (up to 5 nm). According to the formula, the film thickness can be obtained based on the measured ratio of SE to BE yields. A specific example shows a good agreement is reached between the simulated and experimental measurements in the case of the Be/Pt systems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Youth Project of Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Education Commission of China (KJQN201901407), the start-up research funding of Yangtze Normal University (No. 2017KYQD113), 2017 Youth Research Talent Supporting Program (2017QNRC18).

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  1. School of Electronic Information Engineering, Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing, 408100, People’s Republic of China

    Peng Zhang

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  1. Peng Zhang
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Correspondence to Peng Zhang.

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Zhang, P. Thickness analysis of nanometer thin films based on electron yields. Indian J Phys 95, 61–66 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-019-01673-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-019-01673-7

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