Evaluating cluster counting of Cs complexes through the study of nitrogen implanted zirconium
摘要
The cluster counting method (including all Cs complexes missed out in the usage of single Cs complex per element) has previously been reported to provide a significantly better composition estimate than using a single Cs complex per element, for a D9 steel sample. The current study evaluates this method with a nitrogen-implanted zirconium specimen with high oxygen impurity concentrations. Therefore, this system is prone to experiencing strong matrix effects. Quantified elemental depth profiles of the specimen were obtained using XPS to compare with SIMS results. The study confirms that cluster counting of Cs complexes yields significantly better composition estimates than the single Cs complex approach. While fluorine and chlorine are trace-level impurities, their concentrations dominate the composition estimates in both cluster counted and single Cs-complex approaches because the