Auger electron emission from metals induced by low energy ion bombardment: Effect of the band structure and Fermi edge singularity

Calculations of the kinetic energy distributions of electrons ejected from plane metal surfaces by Auger neutralization of slow monoatomic ions are reported. A many body theory is used that includes both the band structure of the target material and the Fermi singular response of metal electrons (to the sudden neutralization of the projectile). Application is made to experiments of electron emission from polycrystalline Al by Ar⁺-ions, at varying incident energies and angles. Adjustment of the broadening parameters of the distribution of shake-up electrons leads to excellent agreement between the theory and the measurements.     

The effect of adsorbed atomic hydrogen on the growth of ultrathin silicon films on Ge(100) studied by positron-annihilation-induced Auger electron spectroscopy (PAES)

The effects of adsorbed atomic hydrogen on the stability of silicon films grown on a Ge(100) substrate were studied by using positron-annihilation-induced Auger electron spectroscopy (PAES) and electron-induced Auger electron spectroscopy (EAES). PAES is almost exclusively sensitive to the topmost atomic layer due to the trapping of positrons in an image potential well just outside the surface before annihilation. This surface specificity was exploited in the study of film stability and interfacial mixing during the growth of silicon on Ge(100). The PAES results show that the prior adsorption of hydrogen prevented the segregation of germanium on top of the deposited silicon, and that the hydrogen adsorption was useful in growing a thermally stable structure.     

Relationships between strain,microstructure and oxide growth at the nano‐ and microscale

In the present article, the relationships between oxidation processes, surface strains and the microstructure of duplex stainless steels were investigated. Specimens were oxidized at 500 °C under secondary vacuum for 1 h to form a thin oxide film (thickness in the range of 20–50 nm). Such specimens were considered as the model system for developing novel methods of analysis in understanding the behavior of passive films. The interfacial strain field after oxidation was measured experimentally at the microscale using the point grid method. On the other hand, the chemical composition of the oxide film was determined at the submicroscopic scale by means of local scanning Auger spectroscopy (with a spot diameter of 50 nm). Local variations of the chemical composition of the oxide film were analyzed according to the specimen microstructure and the strain field. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On line shape analysis in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Any solid state X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS) contains contributions due to multiple inelastic scattering in the bulk, surface excitations, energy losses originating from the screening of the final state hole (intrinsic losses), and, for non-monochromatized incident radiation, ghost lines originating from the X-ray satellites. In the present paper it is shown how all these contributions can be consecutively removed from an experimental spectrum employing a single general deconvolution procedure. Application of this method is possible whenever the contributions mentioned above are uncorrelated. It is shown that this is usually true in XPS to a good approximation. The method is illustrated on experimental non-monochromatized MgK spectra of Au acquired at different detection angles but for the same angle of incidence of the X-rays.     

Electron capture into few-electron heavy ions: Independent particle model

We apply the density matrix theory to re-investigate the radiative electron capture into heavy ions with one valence electron. Attention has been paid particularly to the magnetic sublevel population of the residual ions, as described in terms of alignment parameters. Simple method, based on an independent particle model, which takes into account the Pauli principle, is proposed for evaluating the alignment of the excited ionic states. By making use of this method, detailed calculations are performed for electron capture into (initially) hydrogen-like and lithium-like europium, gold and uranium ions, and are compared with the results of the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock approach.As seen from the calculations and from the comparison with available experimental results, the independent particle model provides a good estimate for the alignment parameters of few-electron heavy ions. Therefore, our simple model may help to understand the basic properties of the X-ray emission from heavy, few-electron ions without the need for invoking sophisticated MCDF calculations.     

High-temperature Auger electron spectroscopy of Zircaloy-4

The near-surface region of Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) has been probed using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). In particular, the behavior of impurity (sulfur) and alloying (tin) elements has been monitored as a function of annealing temperature and time. High-temperature AES experiments above 900 K are reported, with a primary focus on changes in the S(LMM) Auger feature that overlaps with the primary Zr(MNV) transition. We find that the sulfur content of the near-surface region increases linearly with annealing time at higher temperatures. Tin is the only alloying element whose Auger signal intensity significantly exceeds the noise level at these temperatures.     

Component desorption effect on the material catalyticity in high-temperature multicomponent gases

The distinctive features of the formation of the catalyticity of materials with respect to atom recombination on the material surface are investigated for mixtures of different high-temperature gases under conditions of hypersonic atmospheric flight or bench setups. It is shown that in general the catalyticity constants (heterogenous recombination probabilities) of individual components determined experimentally in dissociated flows of “pure” gases are improperly used for calculating the heat fluxes to material surfaces in multicomponent gas flows, owing to differences in the occupation of the surface by atoms in pure gases and mixtures. This effect must be taken into account in interpreting the experimental data which so far have been the only source of information on material catalyticity in gas mixtures. Otherwise, the results of calculations of the heat transfer to hypersonic flight vehicles could turn out to be invalid. Examples of the possible effect of ignoring this factor on the calculated heat fluxes are presented.     

Influence of the electric characteristics of II–VI semiconductor material on the electroluminescence of lanthanide complex

The organic-inorganic combined structural device (ITO/PVK:Eu/ZnS/Al) is fabricated based on layered optimization scheme. II–VI semiconductor material ZnS is acted as an electron function (transporting and acceleration) layer. The hot electrons which have been accelerated in the ZnS layer directly impact excitation europium ions through resonant energy transfer and then recombine with injected holes to form excitons in PVK or EuTTA₂(N-HPA)Phen. Europium (Eu) ions may also be excited by intramolecular energy transfer from ligands. There are two kinds of excitation mechanisms: impacted excitation and injected recombination for the combined structural device. The electroluminescence (EL) intensity of the combined structural device is strongly improved and reaches up to 381 cd/m² at 20 V compared with the pure organic structural device. It may be an effective method to improve the EL intensity of the lanthanide complex by using electric characteristics of inorganic semiconductor materials.     

Growth and characterization of ultrathin carbon films on electrodeposited Cu and Ni

Ultrathin carbon films were grown on different types of metallic substrates. Free‐standing foils of Cu and Ni were prepared by electroforming, and a pure Ni film was obtained by galvanic displacement on a Si wafer. Commercial foil of Ni 99.95% was used as a reference substrate. Carbon films were grown on these substrates by chemical vapour deposition in a CH₄‐H₂ atmosphere. Obtained films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy, and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy. The XPS at grazing collection angle was used to determine the thickness of carbon films. Depending on the deposition parameters, the films of graphene or graphite were obtained on the different substrates. The uniformity of graphene and its distribution over the sample area were investigated from Raman data, optical images, and XPS chemical maps. The presence of graphene or graphite in the films was determined from the Raman spectra and Auger peak of C KVV. For this purpose, the D parameter, which is a fingerprint of carbon allotropes, was determined from C KVV spectra acquired by using X‐rays and electron beam. A formation of an intermediate layer of metal hydroxide was revealed in the samples with graphene overlayer.     

Exciplex Formation and Excited State Deactivation of Difluoroborondipyrromethene (Bodipy) Dyads

Two series of geometrically‐related dyads are discussed based on the difluoroborondipyrromethene (Bodipy) unit, and incorporating covalently attached hydroquinone/quinone groups. These units are anchored directly, or via a phenylene spacer, to the Bodipy core at the meso position in one series ( BD‐MHQ , BD‐MQ , BD‐MPHQ , BD‐MPQ ), but for the second series the attachment site is the 2‐position ( BD‐SHQ , BD‐SQ , BD‐SPHQ , BD‐SPQ ). The compounds show various levels of fluorescence depending on the oxidation state of the appended group and the substitution pattern. In non‐polar solvents such as toluene, diethyl ether and dichlorobenzene, the S₁ state deactivation of the Bodipy unit in BD‐SPQ and BD‐MPQ is dominated by ^{1, 3}exciplex formation, which has not been reported for Bodipy derivatives so far. In the latter molecule, the decay of the exciplex is divided between population of the Bodipy triplet state (13 %–21 %) and ground state reformation. This partitioning is not seen for the side‐on substituted derivative, BD‐SPQ , and only ground state reformation is observed following decay of the exciplex. This difference in behavior is explained by the radical‐pair inter‐system‐crossing mechanism, which more effectively operates in BD‐MPQ because of the orthogonality of the donor‐acceptor units. In the more polar solvent CH₃CN all the quinone derivatives show fast formation of the charge‐separated state (k_CS) followed by slower charge recombination (k_CR). The ratio k_CS/k_CR≤80.