A high temperature dual-mode quartz crystal microbalance technique for erosion and thermal desorption spectroscopy measurements.

An improved quartz crystal microbalance measurement method is described, which allows us to determine erosion, implantation, and release rates of thin films, during changing temperatures and up to 700 K. A quasi-simultaneous excitation of two eigenmodes of the quartz resonator is able to compensate for frequency drifts due to temperature changes. The necessary electronics, the controlling behavior, and the dual-mode temperature compensation are described.