The technique was first proposed by Ziegler et al. to determine the concentration profiles of boron impurities in silicon substrates, and later improved by Biersack and coworkers to much of its existing capabilities.
Since the charged particles are equally likely to be emitted in any direction, reaction kinematics are straightforward.
As charged particles move towards the surface, they are rapidly slowed down, primarily by interacting with the electrons of the substrate.
The amount of energy loss is directly related to the thickness penetrated by the particle.
In this configuration, the semiconductor detector is placed opposite to the surface of the sample being analyzed, and an energy spectrum of charged particles emitted by the neutron-induced reaction is acquired.