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Backscattering Factor for KLL Auger Yield from Film–Substrate Systems
Author(s) -
Lee C. L.,
Kong K. Y.,
Gong H.,
Ong C. K.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9918(199601)24:1<15::aid-sia86>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - auger , substrate (aquarium) , atomic physics , monte carlo method , penetration depth , auger electron spectroscopy , range (aeronautics) , yield (engineering) , electron , atomic number , auger effect , chemistry , materials science , computational physics , physics , optics , nuclear physics , oceanography , metallurgy , composite material , geology , statistics , mathematics
Backscattering factor ( R ) between primary energies of 2–40 keV for film–substrate KLL Auger backscattering yield ( R FS ) is calculated via Monte Carlo simulation for C and Al films. Substrates ranging from Be ( Z =4.0) to Au ( Z =79.0) are used in the study. Results via a normalized R FS ( R N ) function show that substrate effects are indeed present. This is especially so at higher primary energies and lower film atomic number. Electron range results also show that an important and meaningful quantity to describe the backscattering Auger yield with respect to film thickness is the mean backscattered energy penetration depth. This is found to be essentially different from the half‐maximum electron range as proposed earlier. A power law can be used to describe the half‐value range (i.e. the thickness for which R N =0.5) with respect to primary energy. For Al film, however, a discontinuity in the power law is found for energies <4 keV. This is attributed mainly to the relatively large binding energy of the Al K‐shell and also to the greater variation of the K‐shell cross‐section within the backscattered energy spectrum. A new analytical interpolation formula is proposed to calculate R FS . This model accounts for substrate effects at only primary energies >4 keV. At lower energies mean values are used instead. Besides the fitted parameters from our results, known bulk R expressions for film and substrate are also required for the practical use of the model.