PERFORMANCE OF ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPIES FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF EELS AND AUGER MICROSCOPIES

Electron energy loss Spectroscopy (EELS) and electron induced Auger electron Spectroscopy (e-AES) can be used as well as analytical tools for elemental identification, or as spectroscopical techniques for the local investigation of the electronic and structural properties of the specimen. Their performance, associated with the spatially sensitive character of the measurement, can be estimated either through the lateral resolution or through the minimum number of detectable atoms. The various parameters involved in defining the magnitude of these limits are critically defined and evaluated : probe size, signal-to-noise considerations, spatial extent of the inelastic interaction· Great care is dedicated to the ultimate limits close to the single atom identification, in which case previous description have to be refined. Finallly, present trends in instrumentation and methodology are discussed following these general guidelines. © 1990.