Gallium focused ion beam enables non-destructive ToF-SIMS

A gallium focused ion beam (FIB) was integrated into Leti’s ToF-SIMS spectrometer at its Nanocharacterization platform. The combined system makes it possible to analyze air-sensitive and very heterogeneous materials to depths of up to 100 microns.

Research was conducted on air-sensitive lithium-ion battery electrodes and TSVs (through-silicon vias), whose composition is very heterogeneous. In the first case, the integrated FIB-ToF-SIMS approach protected the lithium from oxidation, revealing the active-material particles’ core-shell structure throughout the electrode’s entire thickness (in the tens of microns). And for the TSVs, FIB-ToF-SIMS enabled 3D reconstructions from a series of cross-sections and images, with no alterations to the shape of the structure being analyzed, even in the absence of material.

Contact: jean-paul.barnes@cea.fr

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