FUNDAMENTAL STUDY OF QUANTITATION IN LASER IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY (LIMS)

THE RESEARCH PROPOSED IN THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A QUANTITATIVE LASER IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY (LIMS) TECHNIQUE FOR THE MICROANALYTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF INSULATING MATERIALS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS QUANTITATIVE CAPABILITY COULD HAVE BOTH SIGNIFICANT SCIENTIFIC AND ECONOMIC IMPACT SINCE IT COULD PROVIDE (FOR THE FIRST TIME) A RAPID MICROANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS OF MANY DIELECTRIC MATERIALS. SINCE THESE MATERIALS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN A NUMBER OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS (E.G., SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES, ELECTRO-OPTICAL MATERIALS, AND OPTICAL COATINGS), THE DEVELOPMENT OF A QUANTITATIVE MICROANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE FOR THESE MATERIALS COULD PROVIDE BOTH FUNDAMENTAL AND PRACTICAL INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE DIELECTRIC MATERIALS DEPEND ON THEIR CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PHASE I RESEARCH ARE TO DETERMINE (IF POSSIBLE) THE QUANTITATIVE CORRELATIONS WHICH EXIST BETWEEN THE INTENSITY AND MASS SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTIONS PRODUCED IN CONTROLLED LIMS ANALYSIS OF "MODEL" THIN FILM SYSTEMS AND THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE FILMS.