Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry

Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry (GD-OES) is a well established technique for surface and interface characterisation [1]. It was first introduced by Grimm in Germany in 1967 [2]. In the beginning it was only used for bulk analysis of solid conducting samples, but quickly the field of application was widened to include qualitative depth profiles of surfaces and coatings. French, German and Japanese teams of industrial researchers were very active in this field in the 1970s and 1980s, leading to the first methods for quantitative depth profiling [3]. The next big step forward was the development of the radio frequency (rf) version of GD-OES by Richard Passetemps at Renault in France and Ken Marcus at Clemson University in USA, allowing the analysis of insulating as well as conductive solid materials [4–6]. In recent years the technique has also found application in the semiconductor manufacturing process.