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A matrix effect correction is required to improve the accuracy of quantitative AES analysis. The correction includes terms involving the atomic density (n), electron back-scattering factor (R) and electron escape depth (L). Many schemes have been proposed by various people for corrections of the R and L terms. However, up to now, there have been no systematic investigations of the correction accuracy of the proposed schemes. We have evaluated the correction accuracy, based on measured intensity data for A d u alloys of different compositions. Comparison was made between the observed intensity ratio K (=Zmnk/Pd) and the calculated intensity ratio K' ( = C(nnnk/n'td~Ruk/RatdXL.'k/L*td)), where C and Z represent the concentration and intensity, respectively. The superscripts 'unk' and 'std' denote that the parameters are for unknown and standard specimens, here the pure elements. If the correction works well, the error Er (= K' -K ) / K ) will become smaller. Evaluations were carried out on three schemes for the R correction and on seven schemes for the L correction using the Au 239 eV, Au 2024 eV and Cu 920 eV transitions. The root mean square (RMS) of the calculated errors showed several per cent for the best case and 20-30% for the worst case. The RMS error varied a few per cent between schemes for the R correction but it varied -30% for the L correction.

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The Japanese VAMASSCA working group is composed of 19 institutes. Three kinds of Au-Cu alloys (Au25 at%-Cu75 at%, Au50 at%-CuSO at%, Au75 at%-Cu25 at%) were prepared, and these specimens were distributed to the members of Japanese VAMASSCA working group and Auger peak amplitude ratios were measured to clarify the correlation factor of different types of spectrometers. The comparison was carried out by using the relative sensitivity factor for Au and Cu. The relative sensitivity factor for lower energy varied from spectrometer to spectrometer, but that for higher energy did not vary so much. Therefore, to carry out the inter-laboratory comparison of the data, the transfer of the data of peak amplitude at higher energy should be recommended.