1982 Volume 51 Issue 6 Pages 727-733
The usual Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) measurement suffers from the presence of a steep background due to a secondary electron emission containing low energy Auger electrons. To subtract the background from the AES spectrum in the lower energy region, we have constructed a simple electronic circuit using a Zener-diode as the background function simulator. When the background curve is described as a general energy distribution N(E)=A(E+E0)-m, the Zener-diode can work as its analog function generator giving m=1_??_2.
The practical advantages of the background subtraction technique using this simple circuit are demonstrated by its application to the AES measurements of Au and Cr thin films on Si (100) surfaces.
