Attenuation lengths of low-energy electrons in solids derived from the yield of proton-excited Auger electrons: beryllium and aluminum

Abstract

Values are reported for the absolute yields of $\mathrm{KVV}$ Auger electrons from beryllium and $L_{23}\mathrm{VV}$ Auger electrons from aluminum excited by 60- to 220-keV proton bombardment. The measurements were made using semi-infinite evaporated samples, and the results were used to derive effective values of the inelastic attenuation lengths for low-energy Auger electrons in the surface regions of the samples. The attenuation lengths determined using this technique were 6.1 $\mathrm{A}$ for 100-eV electrons in Be and 1.9 $\mathrm{A}$ for 67-eV electrons in Al. These effective attenuation lengths are appropriate for use in Auger-electron spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.