A simultaneous dual-polarity mass spectrometer with electron start for MeV-SIMS

The Capillary Heavy Ion MeV-SIMS Probe (CHIMP) at ETH Zurich has been redesigned with a second mass spectrometer and symmetric extraction to enable simultaneous analysis of positive and negative secondary ions. Secondary electrons are deflected within the negative spectrometer and detected independently. The fast secondary electron signal is used as a start signal for both Time-of-Flight mass spectrometers. The new setup enables the simultaneous acquisition and analysis of both secondary ion polarities emitted under identical conditions from the same sample location. This allows to study correlations between secondary ions of different polarities emitted from a single primary ion impact. Measurements with small primary Cn cluster ions show the influence of cluster size on the multiplicity of secondary ion emission. Furthermore, a cluster effect in the ratio between positive and negative ion yields of corresponding secondary ion species is identified, with the ratio approaching parity for larger cluster sizes n.

Automated summary

The redesigned CHIMP probe at ETH Zurich allows simultaneous analysis of positive and negative secondary ions, studying correlations between different polarities and identifying a cluster effect in the ion yields. Measurements with small primary Cn cluster ions show the influence of cluster size on secondary ion emission multiplicity.