Patent ID: 7358494

Claim:
A method for determining a material composition for a thin film layer in a test sample, the method comprising: applying an electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) operation to the thin film layer to generate a set of characteristic x-rays; and generating an output value for the material composition based on the set of characteristic x-rays and a measured thickness value for a test layer in the test sample, wherein the test layer is the thin film layer, wherein the material composition is material phase, and wherein generating the output value comprises: identifying a first one of a plurality of trial phases for the thin film layer defining an expected composition that is substantially consistent with a calculated composition, the expected composition being based on the first one of the plurality of trial phases, a density for the test layer defined by the first one of the plurality of trial phases, and the measured thickness value for the test layer, and the calculated composition being based on the set of characteristic x-rays, the measured thickness value for the thin film layer, and the density for the test layer; and providing the first one of the plurality of trial phases as the output value.