Quantitative Analysis by Auger Electron Spectroscopy

Abstract

A short review is presented of the theoretical background of a physical model for the quantification of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) for surface analysis. The recent studies on the data-base for the inelastic mean free paths (IMFP) by Seah and Dench and systematic calculations of the backscattering factors (R) by Shimizu and Ichimura have now enabled standard quantitative corrections comparable to those widely used in electron probe microanalysis, to be accomplished. For quantitative corrections of wider practical use, the present paper proposes the use of functional representations of the backscattering factors for different angles of incidence (ψ) for primary energies ranging from 3 to 10 keV as follows: R=1+(2.34-2.10Z ^0.14)×U ^-0.35+(2.58Z ^0.14-2.98) for ψ=0°, R=1+(0.462-0.777Z ^0.20)×U ^-0.32+(1.15Z ^0.20-1.05) for ψ=30°, R=1+(1.21-1.39Z ^0.13)U ^-0.33+(1.94Z ^0.131.88) for ψ=45°, where U is the ratio of the primary energy to the binding energy, and Z is the atomic number of a sample.