EXPERIMENTAL-DETERMINATION OF ATTENUATION LENGTHS OF PHOTO-ELECTRONS AND AUGERELECTRONS IN SILICON DIOXIDE AND IN SILICON-NITRIDE IN THE ENERGY-RANGE 500 EV-LESS-THAN-OR-EQUAL-TO-E(KIN)LESS-THAN-OR-EQUAL-TO-3100 EV

Attenuation lengths (AL) of photo- and Augerelectrons in SiO2, Si3N4 and Si in the energy range 500-3100 eV have been determined by XPS with variable emission angle. The results are compared to published theoretical data on inelastic mean free paths (IMFP). The measured AL responses versus electron energy are approximately 10% smaller than the IMFP responses. This is in agreement with Monte-Carlo calculations performed on Si. Thus, our results provide an electron spectroscopic confirmation of the data for SiO2, Si3N4 and Si given in the literature.