Depth resolution charging problems

Depth profiling glasses with ion beam techniques is also difficult due to surface charging problems. Pulsed ion beams in ToF-SIMS with relatively long interpulse periods have been used successfully, however. ARXPS can be used to study variation in composition and chemical states over the outer 10 nm. Nuclear techniques, such as PIXE, NRA, RBS and ERDA, are particularly useful in studying the composition of deeper lying altered layers to depths of pm. The latter techniques generally have depth resolutions of the order of 10 nm which is sufficient in most cases [93]. 

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