The Practice of TOF-SIMS

Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, TOF-SIMS, is a highly surface sensitive analytical technique that provides information about composition with submicron lateral resolution. For select materials, TOF-SIMS provides unparalleled sensitivity along with excellent reproducibility, and as a mass spectrometric technique, it also provides excellent specificity. Of the analytical methods available, it is among the most surface sensitive, but the physical principles that underlie it are also the least understood. This volume describes the instrumentation, the physical principles behind the technique to the extent they are understood, and provides a practical approach for the interpretation of TOF-SIMS data. The use of advanced data processing methods such as multivariate statistics are described in a readily approachable manner. Given a basic background in undergraduate chemistry and physics, the book will be of use to any student with an interest in the technique.

Dr. Alan Spool is the TOF-SIMS lead in the Materials Lab in San Jose for Western Digital Corporation. He has been responsible for TOF-SIMS analysis at IBM, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, HGST, a WD company, and now WD since 1991. He placed the very first order for a TRIFT based TOF-SIMS instrument on behalf of IBM in 1990. He earned his BS from Yale University, and his doctorate in Inorganic Chemistry from Columbia University. His post-doctorate in Mark Wrighton's lab at MIT introduced him to the world of surface analysis. There he learned to perform XPS, Auger, and SIMS. In 1986 he joined IBM, initially doing XPS, but then RBS until 1991. He has been author or presenter of 36 papers including multiple invited talks, and the influential paper The Interpretation of Static Secondary Ion Mass Spectra in Surface and Interface Analysis in 2004. Dr. Spool was also a proud founding board member for the Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose, for which his wife Peggy Spool is the founding Artistic Director.