The effect of atomic‐scale etch pit formation on depth resolution in sputter profiling

A very simplified model of atomic‐scale etch pitting during sputtering erosion for composition depth profiling is used to modify the Benninghoven–Hofmann approach to layer‐by‐layer sputtering. It is shown that analytically tractable defining equations result, with solutions that indicate that etch pitting slightly worsens depth resolution as the probability of producing deep etch pits increases.