An analytical approach was proposed for simultaneously determining an inelastic mean free path (IMFP) and a surface excitation parameter (SEP) with absolute units from absolute reflection electron energy loss spectra (REELS) appearing near the elastic peak in absolute Auger electron spectra. The approach was applied to the REELS spectra measured for Ni using 300 to 3000 eV electrons, and the IMFPs and SEPs were determined. The IMFPs determined by the present approach showed good agreement with those calculated using the TPP-2M predictive equation and the theoretical IMFPs calculated from the optical data. The Chen-type predictive equation for calculating the SEPs in Ni was proposed. The present results confirmed that the applicability of the proposed approach for determining the IMFP and SEP with absolute units for medium-energy electrons, which is important for quantification using surface electron spectroscopies.

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Change in such properties were characterized as tribological properties, surface chemical condition and so on for lubricative coating films of titanium nitride (TiN) that have been effected by exposure to an environment in orbit with the Russian Service Module / Space Environment Exposure Device (SM/SEED) prepared by JAXA on the International Space Station (ISS). Friction measurement with a mating pin of stainless steel showed that TiN coated stainless steel sheets after exposure test to orbit environment for a year generally decrease friction coefficient and can keep almost constant even after bakeout under a vacuum as well as at an atmospheric pressure due to some kind of modification of lubricant layer by the exposure.

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A simple model for the spatial resolution of phase-contrast images obtained by X-ray microscopy is proposed. In principle, the model is based on Fresnel s diffraction of a point phase object and applied to interpret the X-ray microscopic images of an ant and a bee taken under different experimental conditions. The source sizes of the X-rays were estimated by Monte Carlo calculation. Using the sizes of the X-ray sources, the spatial resolutions of the phase-contrast images were also estimated according to the proposed model. The results indicate that the present simple model has expressed the high spatial resolution achieved by X-ray microscopy with considerable success, shedding a closer insight into a new world of phase-contrast X-ray microscopy.

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An energy calibration of spectra shifted by a surface charging effect is very important for chemical analysis in X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Adventitious Hydrocarbon Project of Surface Analysis Society of Japan (SASJ) has performed questionnaires about charge correction for 43 Japanese XPS users in 41 institutes. The survey shows that the C 1s line of the adventitious carbon is widely used as an energy reference, and the reference binding energy value of C 1s varies in the range between 284.5 and 285.0 eV. It is also found from the survey that the value of reference energy is largely relevant to the manufacturer of the XPS instrument

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Field emission type Auger Electron Spectrometer (FE-AES) can provide the micro area analysis of the several 10nm, by developing Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) equipped with an electron gun of thermal field emission source (TFE). The conventional features of AES are sensitive to surface layer and possible for in depth analysis. Moreover, FE-AES can perform the micro area analysis and the chemical state analysis by using the high energy resolution energy analyzer. In this review, the new application data of Auger chemical state analysis are reported.

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The behavior of beams in an optical system is greatly influenced by the conservation law of brightness. This law decides the theoretical maximum concentration of a beam, and then has a thermodynamics, and traces back to the wave nature of rays and particles.

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