Titanium oxide reduction in ion depth profiling

Through Factor Analysis and Auger Electron Spectroscopy AES., we have studied the alterations introduced in the analysis of chemically complex samples TiO2.by the normal procedure of ion bombardment depth profiling. We studied the effect of the energy, current density and mass of the impinging particles on the oxide film composition. We found that the procedure generates in the sample lower oxide states TiO., and that while this effect is independent of the energy and ion density, it presents a clear dependence on the mass of the impinging ion. Through the comparison of different depth profiles obtained by sputtering with a couple of different ions, we obtain a better characterization of the oxide films. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved