Fluorescence-Detected X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy Applied to Structural Characterization of Very Thin Films; Ion-Beam-Induced Modification of Thin Ni Layers on Si(100)

The design features and performance of a newly-developed multi-detector system for fluorescence-detected X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) using synchrotron radiation are presented, and the feasibility of fluorescence-detected XAS for structural studies of very thin films is discussed. It is demonstrated that this technique can be a powerful structural characterization tool for thin films with a wide range of thickness from a few thousand Å down to some tens of Å. The possibility of a monolayer experiment with further improvements to the present system is suggested from experiments on films with a Ni coverage of 3.2×1016/cm2. The structural modification of thin nickel films deposited on Si(100) induced by ion-beam bombardment was investigated, and the formation of amorphous Si-rich nickel silicide as a result of argon ion bombardment at a low substrate temperature is reported.