LAUSR

Low energy ion scattering (LEIS) provides an analytical tool for probing the surface composition and structure on the angstrom to nanometer scale. These length scales are central to the growth and processing of ultrathin films produced by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Here, the authors present the application of LEIS to the elucidation of ALD deposition processes and in particular how it provides information about growth parameters including the growth per cycle (GPC), the nature of the film–substrate interfaces, and adatom incorporation into the growing film. The deposition of varying thickness zinc oxide films and the composition of magnesium-doped zinc oxide films are used as model systems. LEIS has been used to investigate the GPC of ZnO using two approaches, namely, static and dynamic measurements. The static approach exploits inelastic energy loss processes to estimate the GPC of different thicknesses of ZnO films. The dynamic approach measures the GPC via a combination of LEIS surface analysis and...