Accurate analysis of shallowly implanted solar wind ions by SIMS backside depth profiling

•We report a method to analyze solar wind (SW)captured during the GENESIS mission•Backside depth-profiling by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) was used.•Nearly complete depth profiles of implanted SW were obtained.•We present quantitative analyses of SW fluences for several elements.

A method to quantitatively determine the fluences of shallowly-implanted solar wind ions returned to Earth by the Genesis Discovery mission is described. Through backside depth-profiling, we recover nearly complete depth profiles of implanted solar wind for several nonvolatile elements, including Mg, Al, Ca, Cr, and, to a lesser extent, Na, in silicon targets that collected bulk solar wind and solar wind from specific velocity regimes. We also determine the fluences of the volatile elements C, N, and O in silicon targets that collected bulk solar wind. By the use of appropriately calibrated ion implanted standards, fluences as low as 2 × 1010 atoms cm− 2 can be determined with precision and accuracy typically in the few percent range. Specific approaches to sample preparation, sputtering artifacts during depth profiling by secondary ion mass spectrometry, and quantification including the production of ion implant standards are discussed.