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Evaluation of validity of the depth‐dependent correction formula (CF) for elastic electron scattering effects in AES and XPS
Author(s) -
Jablonski A.,
Tougaard S.
Publication year - 1998
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(19980501)26:5<374::aid-sia382>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , elastic scattering , analyser , electron , scattering , atomic physics , monte carlo method , electron scattering , chemistry , inelastic scattering , computational physics , physics , optics , quantum mechanics , nuclear magnetic resonance , mathematics , statistics
Elastic electron scattering in XPS and AES vary considerably with depth of origin of emitted electrons. To account for this, we introduced in a recent paper a simple correction factor CF . The function CF is the ratio of emitted peak intensity from a layer of atoms located at a given depth in a solid calculated from theories that take into account and neglect elastic electron scattering. The observed depth dependence of CF is well described by a simple analytical formula that depends only on the inelastic and the transport mean free paths. In the present paper the limits of validity of the formula are determined by comparison to results of extensive Monte Carlo simulations. It is found to be valid for most XPS and AES peaks provided that the angle of emission is <30° and the angle between x‐ray anode and analyser axis is 45–65°. The procedure for application of CF in practical surface analysis is also discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.