Oxygen environmental Auger electron spectroscopy: Eliminating the electron beam effects on Al2O3 during Auger analysis

Abstract

Articles you may be interested inIon and electron bombardment-related ion emission during the analysis of diamond using secondary ion mass spectrometry Nanometer fabrication using selective thermal desorption of SiO 2 induced by focused electron beams and electron beam interference fringesThe charging phenomena and charge compensation under electron beam irradiation have been studied on alumina using Auger electron spectroscopy ͑AES͒. Electron-beam effects, observed in AES as oxygen depletion, contamination from residual gas, and charge-up, can be efficiently reduced in an oxygen environment of р5ϫ10 Ϫ8 Torr O 2 . The oxygen environmental Auger electron spectroscopy reveals an inherent relation between the oxygen depletion and the charge-up of alumina: Oxygen depletion due to electron-stimulated desorption, preceding the other electron-beam effects, is the primary cause of the charge-up of alumina. The charging phenomena of alumina and the efficiency of the O 2 environment for charge compensation can be interpreted in terms of the general energy band schema.

Towards a reliable characterisation of oxide layers on pure aluminium using high energy resolution FE‐AES

“…This is in close correspondence with the observation of Guo et al [15] that the oxygen depletion is the primary cause of the charging of (poly)crystalline alumina during AES analysis. Charge potentials up to 200 eV were observed in Ref.…”

“…Charge potentials up to 200 eV were observed in Ref. [15] after 10 h of electron beam irradiation. The total irradiation time in condition A is also about 10 h in this study.…”

Charging effect induced by electron beam irradiation: a review

“…This idea has also been realized in EBL, forming the variable-pressure EBL (VP-EBL) [153]. In particular, the charging effect in oxide characterizations using SEM [23] and AES [154][155][156] can be minimized after injecting O 2 into the instrument chamber, but a different principle is involved. The charging effect in these cases is mainly related to the oxygen vacancies on the sample surface due to electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) and they can be effectively eliminated by the injected O 2 , thus minimizing the charging effect.…”

Charging compensation of alumina samples by using an oxygen microinjector in the environmental scanning electron microscope

“…The charging mechanism of the oxides involves the formation of an oxygen deficit on the sample surface under electron irradiation, and the charging compensation involves the replenishment of the oxygen vacancies in the oxygen environment (Guo et al 2003, Ji et al 2004, 2005. Therefore, the pure O 2 as the ambient gas was chosen for charging compensation of Al 2 O 3 samples with the microinjector system.…”