Elsevier

Applied Surface Science

Volumes 33–34, September 1988, Pages 99-106
Applied Surface Science

Theoretical and experimental studies of N(E) spectra in auger electron spectroscopy

https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-4332(88)90293-0Get rights and content

Abstract

A new Monte Carlo simulation approach has been developed to describe the full energy spectrum, N(E), from the elastic peak in the high energy region to the slow secondary electrons in the low energy region, for kV electrons. The Monte Carlo calculations were performed for 3 kV electrons impinging on Cu, Au and Si at normal incidence and at an angle of 45°, respectively. To compare the simulation results, the EN(E) measurements were done on these elements under the same conditions using a commercial Auger microprobe, JAMP-30. It has been confirmed through the comparison that the present Monte Carlo approach describes the experiment very well. As another application of practical interest, we have simulated how the energy loss peaks of 1 kV electrons change as Cu deposition onto a Si substrate proceeds. The result clearly indicates that the plasmon loss peaks of Si substrates become unobservable with a CMA of common use when the surface coverage of Cu film becomes 5 Å thick.

References (12)

  • C.J. Tung et al.

    Surface Sci.

    (1979)
  • Z.-J. Ding et al.

    Surface Sci.

    (1988)
  • H.E. Bishop
  • Z.-J. Ding et al.

    Surface Interface Anal.

    (1987)
  • R. Shimizu et al.

    Appl. Phys. Letters

    (1978)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (20)

  • Determination of electron backscattering coefficient of beryllium by a high-precision Monte Carlo simulation

    2021, Nuclear Materials and Energy
    Citation Excerpt :

    The systematically developed Monte Carlo simulation models and methods by Ding’s group (DingMC) in different approaches for applications to electron spectroscopies and electron microscopies are comprised of two categories: 1. Classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) simulations, where the simulation of electron elastic and inelastic scattering in amorphous-like surfaces/solids/thin-films are treated by conventional Monte Carlo sampling techniques from respective scattering cross sections, including (a) CTMC-SEM, simulation of secondary electrons and backscattered electrons emitted from bulk solids as signals in scanning electron microscopy and background in Auger electron spectroscopy [21–38]; (b) CTMC-3DSEM, simulation for complex 3D sample geometries particularly for critical dimension scanning electron microscopic imaging [39–49]; [c] CTMC-EPMA, simulation of continuous and characteristic X-ray signals in electron probe microanalysis [50–52]; (d) CTMC-SES, simulation of Auger electron and/or X-ray photoelectron signals in surface electron spectroscopies [53–56]; (e) CTMC-REELS, simulation of electron elastic peak spectroscopy and reflection electron energy loss spectroscopic spectrum from surfaces [57–66]; (f) CTMC-RMC, a reverse Monte Carlo method for deriving optical constants of solids from reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy spectra [67–73]; (g) CTMC-CHARG, simulation of specimen charging phenomena in insulators and semiconductors [74–78]; (h) CTMC-ATOMIC, simulation for atomic thin layers with substrate [63,66] or without substrate, like graphene, particularly for deriving electron inelastic scattering mean free path [79–81]; 2. Quantum trajectory Monte Carlo (QTMC) simulation for crystalline materials, which combines the simulation of Bohmian quantum trajectories for electron elastic scattering/diffraction [82–84] with the Monte Carlo sampling of electron inelastic scattering: QTMC-ARSEI, for atomic resolution secondary electron imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy [85–87].

  • Interaction of Ions and Electrons with Solid Surfaces

    2006, Materials Surface Processing by Directed Energy Techniques
  • Electron-Beam-Induced Nanometer-Scale Deposition

    2006, Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics
  • Monte Carlo simulation studies in Japan on interaction of charged particles with solids during those early days in 1960s-1970s

    2005, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
View all citing articles on Scopus

Permanent address: Fundamental Physics Center, China University of Science and Technology, Hefei, Anhui, People's Rep. of China.

View full text