Applications of focused ion beam SIMS in materials science

Focused ion beam instruments (FIB) can be used both for materials processing and materials analysis, since the ion beam used in the FIB milling process generates several potentially useful analytical signals such as electrons, ions and photons. Thus, several different modes of FIB based analysis are possible, depending on the detectors placed within the instrument. In this paper we discuss some applications of focused ion beam instruments equipped with a secondary ion mass spectrometer (FIB SIMS) and a secondary electron detector (FIB SED). We describe the FIB SIMS instrumentation, and various aspects of instrumental design. Different modes of operation are discussed, including SIMS mass spectrometry, SIMS imaging and SIMS depth profiling. Applications of FIB SIMS analysis in materials science are given. Materials discussed include micrometeorites and micrometeorite impact sites on metal foils, an oxide ceramic for a solid oxide fuel cell (La0.9Sr0.1CoO3), glass, stainless steel, zeolite beads, superconducting and semiconducting multilayers and aerospace alloys.