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Problems of quantitative Auger analysis of TiN x thin films: Peak overlapping and line shape changes
Author(s) -
Pamler W.
Publication year - 1988
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/sia.740130112
Subject(s) - auger , tin , spectral line , resolution (logic) , line (geometry) , analytical chemistry (journal) , smoothing , chemistry , energy (signal processing) , sensitivity (control systems) , materials science , computational physics , atomic physics , physics , mathematics , geometry , computer science , statistics , metallurgy , chromatography , astronomy , artificial intelligence , quantum mechanics , electronic engineering , engineering
Quantitative Auger analysis of TiN x is not trivial because the only N transition coincides with a Ti peak and the shape of all Ti lines changes by compound formation. It will be shown in this paper that the effect of the line shape changes on quantification can be reduced by a degraded energy resolution, for example by additional smoothing of the raw spectra. Then, the overlap problem can be addressed by subtraction of an additional sensitivity factor which is determined by a pure Ti spectrum. Auger spectra will be quantified by means of reference samples. This calibration yields a good correlation of Auger intensities with bulk compositions. Moreover, the applicability of usual high resolution spectra for quantification will be discussed.