Depth Profiling of Light Isotopes by use of Nuclear Reactions

Abstract

By analyses using nuclear reactions, the depth distributions and the absolute amount of traces of light isotopes (Z ≲ 15) within the near-surface region can be measured. The nuclear-reaction methods are complementary to backscattering spectroscopy since the latter provides detection of only heavy elements in light substrates and cannot normally discriminate between two isotopes of the same element, as can the reaction methods. The paper describes the two nuclear-reaction methods, i.e., the energy-analysis method and the resonance method, which are used for measurements of depth profiles. Also, depth resolutions and sensitivities are discussed, and a few examples of applications to materials science are given.