Surface analytical techniques Auger electron spectroscopy

Commercial surface analysis systems have been available since around 1970 (1). Most of the early instruments were dedicated to longer-term fundamental research, even if they were located at industrial research centers. However. since the latter part of the 1980s, the most popular surface analytical techniques. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), have gained a greater level of acceptance in industry due to their improved reliability. Surface analysis is now routinely used to solve complex industrial problem.s in both research and quality assurance environments. It has been specifically the move toward the use of these techniques in quality-assurance-type applications that has started to force the development of national/international documentary standards in order to formalize the methods of application of the techniques. 

The importance of surface and chemical analysis techniques in electronics corrosion testing cannot be overstated. These powerful tools contribute to solving problems and elucidating corrosion mechanisms in simple and complex systems. Chemical analysis techniques include infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), and RAMAN spectroscopy X-ray diffraction atomic adsorption emission and mass spectroscopy gas and liquid chromatography and optical and transmission electron microscopy. Surface analytical techniques include electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), Auger, secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS). These important techniques used in conjunction with corrosion tests are described in another section of this manual. 

Scanning Auger microscopy (SAM) (characterization) A scanning surface analytical technique that uses an electron beam as the sampling probe and Auger electrons as the detected species to give the composition of the surface. See also Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). 

The application of surface analytical techniques, most notably X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), or its spatially resolved counterpart. Scanning Auger Microanalysis (SAM), is of great value in understanding the performance of a catalyst. However, the results obtained from any of these techniques are often difficult to interpret, especially when only one technique is used by itself. 

All analytical methods that use some part of the electromagnetic spectrum have evolved into many highly specialized ways of extracting information. The interaction of X-rays with matter represents an excellent example of this diversity. In addition to straightforward X-ray absorption, diffraction, and fluorescence, there is a whole host of other techniques that are either directly X-ray-related or come about as a secondary result of X-ray interaction with matter, such as X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), surface-extended X-ray absorption fine structure (SEXAFS) spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and time-resolved X-ray diffraction techniques, to name only a few [1,2]. 

Passivation of active metals to hydrogen reaction has been recognized as an important problem in basic metal-hydrogen studies, especially in their technological application to various situations. Few investigations have addressed these difficulties. The advent of modern surface analytical techniques such as photoelectron spectroscopyy Auger electron spectroscopy, and ion spectrometry offer a tremendous opportunity to attack the passivation question. Each of these techniques is discussed with regard to their capabilities and application to hydride kinetics. 

The analysis of corrosion scale or product may be done by wet chemical methods such as spectrophotometry or atomic absorption spectrophotometry in cases where the removal of corrosion scale is permitted, or by surface analytical techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, electron microprobe analysis, by energy dispersive X-ray analysis in the case of samples which need to be preserved. 

The chemical, physical and technical properties of catalysts and many other porous technical materials are to a very great degree determined by both their texture and their structure, but the analytical composition of the surface also plays a role. Modern surface analysis techniques, like auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have revealed that in many cases the atomic composition of the surface of a solid material deviates strongly from the composition of the bulk material. 

Surface analytical techniques such as Auger electron spectroscopy (27), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (28), and secondary-ion mass spectrometry (29) have been used to study LB films. Synchrotron radiation is a particularly powerful probe enabling X-ray near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure to be measured. Angle-resolved photoemission studies (30) confirmed the existence of a one-dimensional energy band along the (CH2)jc chain in a fatty acid salt film. 

Until recently, analytical investigations of surfaces were handicapped by the lack of suitable methods and instrumentation capable of supplying reliable and relevant information. Electron diffraction is an excellent way to determine the geometric arrangement of the atoms on a surface, but it does not answer the question as to the chemical composition of the upper atomic layer. The use of the electron microprobe (EMP), a powerful instrument for chemical analyses, is unfortunately limited because of its extended information depth. The first real success in the analysis of a surface layer was achieved by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) [16,17], followed a little later by other techniques such as electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) and secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), etc. [18-23]. All these techniques use some type of emission (photons, electrons, atoms, molecules, ions) caused by excitation of the surface state. Each of these techniques provides a substantial amount of information. To obtain the optimum Information it is, however, often beneficial to combine several techniques. 

Mass-spectrometry principles and techniques have been employed in other kinds of surface studies in which sample atoms are sputtered by interaction with a laser beam or by RF glow discharges. These approaches are more highly specialized, but it should be clear that mass spectrometry is an important tool in surface chemistry. The student should compare SIMS and ISS with other surface analytical techniques such as ESCA, Auger spectroscopy, electron microprobe, and low-energy electron diffraction (see Chaps. 14 and 15). 

---