Strong dependence of the (100) surface composition of A 50-50 iron-cobalt monocrystalline alloy with ion bombardment and annealing

A decomposition of the overlapping iron and cobalt Auger transitions, using pure element experimental spectra, has been applied to the Auger analysis of a 50-50 iron-cobalt alloy. We have found that a linear combination of the pure element spectra reproduces quite accurately the alloy spectra in a wide range of surface composition. Using this method a high depletion in iron upon argon bombardment is observed and different recovering temperatures are found for iron and cobalt.