EVALUATION AND MEASUREMENT OF CHANGES IN INTENSITY OF THE CHARACTERISTIC LINES AND BACKGROUND OF AUGER-ELECTRON SPECTRA DUE TO CRYSTALLINE EFFECTS - APPLICATION TO AN ALUMINUM TARGET BOMBARDED WITH ELECTRONS

We evaluated and measured the influence of channelling on changes in intensity of the characteristic lines and background of Auger electron spectra by performing calculations and experiments on an aluminium single crystal. Propagation of the incident beam in the crystal was calculated by the dynamic theory of electron diffraction, while the Monte‐Carlo method was used to simulate electron paths in the material as a function of experimental conditions. We measured the contrasts of the Al LVV (68 eV) and Al KLL (1396 eV) lines in both channelling and abnormal absorption positions and we recorded the background of the En(E) curves for different electron accelerating voltages and for some strong reflections. The theoretical and experimental results are consistent, revealing the magnitude of crystalline effects in AES. These effects, although they are a hindrance in routine analysis, can be used to study changes in the surface layer composition of metals and ceramics. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.