Effects of metal nanoparticles on the secondary ion yields of a model alkane molecule upon atomic and polyatomic projectiles in secondary ion mass spectrometry.

A model alkane molecule, triacontane, is used to assess the effects of condensed gold and silver nanoparticles on the molecular ion yields upon atomic (Ga(+) and In(+)) and polyatomic (C60(+) and Bi3(+)) ion bombardment in metal-assisted secondary ion mass spectrometry (MetA-SIMS). Molecular films spin-coated on silicon were metallized using a sputter-coater system, in order to deposit controlled quantities of gold and silver on the surface (from 0 to 15 nm equivalent thickness). The effects of gold and silver islets condensed on triacontane are also compared to the situation of thin triacontane overlayers on metallic substrates (gold and silver). The results focus primarily on the measured yields of quasi-molecular ions, such as (M - H)(+) and (2M - 2H)(+), and metal-cationized molecules, such as (M + Au)(+) and (M + Ag)(+), as a function of the quantity of metal on the surface. They confirm the absence of a simple rule to explain the secondary ion yield improvement in MetA-SIMS. The behavior is strongly dependent on the specific projectile/metal couple used for the experiment. Under atomic bombardment (Ga(+), In(+)), the characteristic ion yields an increase with the gold dose up to approximately 6 nm equivalent thickness. The yield enhancement factor between gold-metallized and pristine samples can be as large as approximately 70 (for (M - H)(+) under Ga(+) bombardment; 10 nm of Au). In contrast, with cluster projectiles such as Bi3(+) and C60(+), the presence of gold and silver leads to a dramatic molecular ion yield decrease. Cluster projectiles prove to be beneficial for triacontane overlayers spin-coated on silicon or metal substrates (Au, Ag) but not in the situation of MetA-SIMS. The fundamental difference of behavior between atomic and cluster primary ions is tentatively explained by arguments involving the different energy deposition mechanisms of these projectiles. Our results also show that Au and Ag nanoparticles do not induce the same behavior in MetA-SIMS of triacontane. The microstructures of the metallized layers are also different. While metallic substrates provide higher yields than metal islet overlayers in the case of silver, whatever the projectile used, the situation is reversed with gold.