In this paper, we report an optimized way to measure nitrogen in ZnO using a Cs+ primary beam while monitoring (O + N)(-). Because of ion yield variations and mass interferences, monitoring molecular ions of the type (matrix + N)- may not be useful for metal films such as Cu and Ni. In this work, based on N-15(+)-implanted samples, we also report N profile measurements in Cu. and Ni using a Cs+ primary beam and monitoring Cs-attached cluster ions: e.g. (Cs2N)(+) in Cu and (CsN)(+) in Ni. For a given profiling energy such as 5.5 keV and using Cs-2(+) as the "matrix" signal for quantification, it has been found that the ratio of (Cs2N)(+) or (CsN)(+) ion yield to (Cs-2)(+) ion yield (i.e. the relative sensitivity factor) is independent of the chosen sputter rate, but depends on the matrix materials. The range data measured by SIMS are compared with the simulated data from SRIM. The agreements are found to be very good in ZnO, and good in Cu and Ni films. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.