Metallic contamination in semiconductor products adversely affects device performance. Transition metals are among the most commonly occurring forms of metal contamination – they tend to diffuse through the semiconductor material and aggregate on the surface in various oxide forms, and iron (Fe) is, by far, the most common contaminant.
Single particle ICP-MS (SP-ICP-MS) has demonstrated to be an effective technique for the analysis of nanoparticles due to its ability to detect, count, and size individual particles at very low particle concentrations down to limits between 100 and 1000 particles/mL, depending on the introduction system being used. This work demonstrates the ability of the NexION® SP-ICP-MS to detect iron-containing nanoparticles in organic solvents using Reaction mode.