Auger and secondary electrons excited by backscattered electrons; An approach to quantitative analysis

The contribution of backscattered electrons (BE) to Auger electrons (AE) and secondary electrons (SE) was studied by depositing Be onto a polycrystalline or deposited Cu substrate. The effects of backscattering on SE and maximum escape depth of SE were obtained by using the so called δ-η method. This method was also applied to the AE and the effects of BE on AE were experimentally evaluated. The AE yield versus primary energy curve which was corrected for BE was compared with other experiments and theories and considerably good agreement was obtained. From this analysis, the excitation efficiencies of AE by primary electrons and by BE could also be obtained. The absolute AE yield of Be (KVV) was estimated by “area” measurements. The changes of plasma losses, the elastic peaks, the energy distribution of BE, and the true SE were also observed as a function of deposited film thickness, and the results are discussed.