Abstract
The influence of backscattered electrons on the spatial resolution was investigated in the analysis of Auger electron spectroscopy. The size of the generation area of Auger electrons caused by backscattered electron generation was evaluated for Au/SiO2/Si and Ni/Fe specimens by measuring the line profile of O KLL and Ni LMM, respectively. It was shown that the size of the generation area, measured as the spread till the intensity becomes 5% of its maximum intensity, increased with accelerating voltage and exceeded 1 μ for the accelerating voltage of 20 kV. Cosequently, the accelerating voltage should be less than 5 kV for the sub-micron analysis. The sizes of the generation area were in good agreement with the values calculated from the theoretical equation proposed by Soejima. The quantitative analysis of carbon and boron in a borocarbide precipitate in steel was done under the analytical conditions determined for sub-micron analysis. The analytical errors were less than 3 atomic % when the relative sensitivity factors for carbon and boron obtained experimentally from Fe3C and Fe2B precipitates were used, respectively. On the other hands, when the relative sensitivity factors obtained from pure materials were used, the analytical accuracy was poor because of the influence of the change of spectrum shape due to the difference of chemical state.
