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Complementary techniques for the characterization of thin film Ti/Nb multilayers.
Arda Genç1, Rajarshi Banerjee, Gregory B Thompson
1Center for the Accelerated Maturation of Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. arda.genc@intel.com
Ultramicroscopy
|June 26, 2009
Summary
Electron energy-loss spectrometry (EELS) and X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry (XEDS) were used to analyze nanoscale Ti/Nb multilayers. EELS proved more effective than XEDS for analyzing compositional variations at smaller layer widths.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Nanoscale metallic multilayers are crucial for advanced material applications.
- Accurate compositional analysis at the nanoscale is essential for understanding material properties.
- Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) with advanced detectors offers powerful analytical capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate nanoscale compositional variations in Ti/Nb metallic multilayers.
- To compare the effectiveness of Electron Energy-Loss Spectrometry (EELS) and X-ray Energy-Dispersive Spectrometry (XEDS) for nanoscale analysis.
- To evaluate the impact of layer width on compositional profiling accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) equipped with an aberration corrector.
- Employed Electron Energy-Loss Spectrometry (EELS) and X-ray Energy-Dispersive Spectrometry (XEDS) for compositional analysis.
- Validated results using 3D Atom Probe Tomography (3D APT).
Main Results:
- XEDS and EELS showed good agreement for larger layer widths (h ≥ 7 nm).
- At smaller layer widths (h ≈ 2 nm), EELS and 3D APT revealed similar compositional variations.
- XEDS results differed significantly from EELS and 3D APT at smaller layer widths due to beam broadening effects.
Conclusions:
- Electron energy-loss spectrometry (EELS) is advantageous over X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry (XEDS) for compositional analysis of nanoscale multilayered materials.
- Beam broadening significantly impacts XEDS accuracy at reduced layer widths.
- Accurate nanoscale compositional analysis requires careful consideration of analytical technique limitations.
