Deep and Shallow Implant Depth Profiling in Semiconductors | SIMS

The Application

Deep and shallow implant depth profiling enables semiconductor manufacturers to precisely measure dopant distribution and impurity levels within silicon and other advanced materials.

The Challenge

Semiconductor devices are becoming increasingly complex as manufacturers push for smaller nodes, thinner junctions, and more intricate material stacks. This evolution makes it significantly harder to accurately measure dopant concentrations and impurity distributions. Deep implants require low detection limits, while ultrashallow implants demand exceptional depth resolution that many analytical techniques struggle to achieve. Process engineers also need stable, repeatable measurements at high throughput to keep pace with rapid development cycles. Traditional methods often force tradeoffs between sensitivity, resolution, and speed—complicating both R&D and production-scale monitoring.

Our Unique Solution

CAMECA offers a highperformance SIMS platform—the IMS 7f-Auto—purposebuilt for demanding implant depth profiling in semiconductor workflows. What makes our solution unique:

• Outstanding sensitivity for deep implants, to achieve ppb detection limits for key dopants (B, P, As) together with depth profiling down to several microns.
• Optimized depth resolution for ultrashallow layers, with continuously adjustable impact energy down to 500 eV to ensure nanometer-scale depth resolution.
• High throughput without sacrificing performance, enabling full profiles in minutes.
• Superior dynamic range & mass resolution, providing high-quality data across semiconductor structures.

Using dynamic SIMS, engineers can characterize implant depths ranging from shallow junctions to several microns—supporting process control, device performance optimization, and R&D reliability.

Case Study

Using the IMS 7f-Auto, deep phosphorus implants in silicon can be analyzed in within minutes, delivering exceptional detection limits and dynamic range. For shallow boron implants, reducing beam energy to 500 eV provides excellent depth resolution while maintaining high sensitivity—enabling accurate characterization of today’s ultrashallow junctions and thinfilm semiconductor structures.

Left: SIMS depth profiling of Phosphorus deep implant in silicon using high impact energy conditions, showing excellent detection limit at ppb level and high sample throughput (200 sec analysis time to reach ~1.5 µm). The Phosphorus analysis in silicon requires high mass resolution to resolve the 31P/30Si1H mass interference. Right: SIMS depth profiling of Boron shallow implants in silicon using low impact energy conditions. The data reveals the true distribution within the first tens of nm’s and show an excellent dynamic range (~4 decades). Data collected on IMS 7f-Auto at CAMECA factory.

Best-Fit Product: CAMECA IMS 7f-Auto

The IMS 7f-Auto is the reference SIMS instrument for semiconductor dopant monitoring and implant metrology. It combines high sensitivity, fast throughput, and flexible analytical conditions—making it ideal for both production environments and advanced R&D labs.

Learn More

Ready to enhance implant profiling accuracy and accelerate semiconductor development?

👉 Contact our experts today to discuss your analytical needs, request a demo, or obtain detailed technical specifications.

👉 Download the IMS 7f-Auto brochure and access our documentation, blogs and webinars to explore performance data and real-world case studies.