Proton energy suitable for backscattering spectrometry in nitrogen composition analysis of transition metal nitride thin films on silicon substrate

A proton energy suitable for elastic backscattering spectrometry for nitrogen composition analysis of transition metal nitride thin films on a silicon substrate was suggested. Conditions under which the backscattering yield from nitrogen is as high as possible, and that from silicon as low as possible is preferred. The ratio of the backscattering yield of the nitrogen at the surface to that of the silicon in the same channel, was calculated for the proton energies between 1.0 and 2.5 MeV with an interval of 20 keV. It was shown that a proton energy of 1.62–1.64 MeV is the most suitable not only considering the above-mentioned ratio, but also with regard to the energy dependence of the scattering cross section and an easy check of the proton energy during the measurements.