AUTOMATIC-ANALYSIS OF ISS - SPECTRA

Ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) is an established technique for the analysis of atomic species in the outermost atomic layer of a solid surface. Owing to the erosive action of the primary ions, a continued experiment can show the variation of these elemental concentrations in the subsurface layer, just as in depth profiling with AES or XPS and ion sputtering. When used in this 'depth profiling' mode, large numbers of spectra are generated that call for automatic processing and interpretation. A complete set of software routines is described that is tailored to the specific aspects of ISS and runs on a personal computer. It allows for on-line, real-time peak detection and identification, as well as for background elimination and peak intensity determination, even in the case of strongly overlapping peaks. The employed strategy is quite general, so that the essence of these routines could easily be adapted to other spectroscopic techniques. The entire procedure is illustrated by a concrete analysis of a photographic material.