EVENT: CMCA Seminar Series: Techniques and Applications in Marine and Biological Science

SIMS is one of the most powerful characterization techniques for materials, chemistry, physics, and biology because of its unique capabilities to provide trace sensitivity (ppm to sub-ppb range) and excellent depth (as good as 1 nm) and lateral resolution (< 1 µm for ion microscopes and 30 nm for ion microprobes). In particular, it has become an indispensable characterization technique in the fields of marine and biological science which require analytical techniques capable of probing small areas and detecting impurities at low concentrations. A succinct review on the basic principles of SIMS, will be given, followed by a description of the current status on the SIMS technique. The principles of SIMS data acquisition will be illustrated as well as an evaluation of procedures to achieve useful information on the elemental, isotopic, and molecular composition of the respective samples. Some most intriguing results of SIMS studies in marine and biological science will be reviewed (including studies of diatom and otolith samples) and a comparison of SIMS with other micro-analytical techniques - such as AES, XPS, EPMA, TOF-SIMS, laser ablation ICP-MS, SNMS, PIXE and RBS will be made.