An investigation of the stoichiometry and impurity content of thin silicon oxide films using Rutherford scattering of MeV α-particles

It is described how the Rutherford scattering of MeV α-particles may be used to study the stoichiometry and impurity content of thin silicon oxide films. The relative concentrations of silicon to oxygen can be measured to ≈ 5%, and in the most favourable cases, impurity concentrations as low as ≈1018 ions cm−3 can be measured.