Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France, CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, Grenoble, France, Horiba France, Avenue de la Vauve-Passage Jobin Yvon, CS 45002, Palaiseau, France

This work shows the capabilities of the plasma profiling time of flight mass spectrometry (PP-TOFMS) for the determination of elemental composition and distribution in InAlGaN thin films used for high electron mobility transistors. The PP-TOFMS results have been compared with wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence analyses for the elemental composition determination and with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) for elemental distributions. Relative sensitivity factors have been developed for the comparison of PP-TOFMS with TOF-SIMS results. The PP-TOFMS was able to determine the relative composition of In and Al in the thin films with an accuracy of 10 rel. % without calibration. Depth profiles acquired from the PP-TOFMS technique were obtained within a few minutes and exhibited very similar In, Al, and Ga distributions to TOF-SIMS measurements, and thus PP-TOFMS has been shown to be a valuable addition to TOF-SIMS analysis for a fast process development. © 2018 Author(s).

Aluminum, Aluminum compounds, Depth profiling, Fluorescence, Gallium compounds, High electron mobility transistors, Indium compounds, Mass spectrometry, Organic polymers, Secondary ion mass spectrometry, Spectrometry, Thin films, Wavelength dispersive spectroscopy, X ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Elemental compositions, Elemental depth profiling, Elemental distribution, Relative sensitivity factor, Time of flight mass spectrometry, Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, TOF-SIMS analysis, Wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescences, Nitrogen compounds