The Electronic Structure of Metals Studied by Auger Spectroscopy

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. In recent years there has been much study of Auger processes that involve one or more valence electrons. In particular, the degree to which the Auger lineshape reflects the local density of states (DOS) has proved to be of considerable interest and it is often assumed that the Auger profile may be simply obtained by a weighting of the angular components of the local DOS. By using the embedding technique to carry out first principles, self-consistent calculations of the KLV Auger profiles of simple metals, it is possible to investigate the relationship between the Auger profile and the local DOS. Additionally, it is shown that useful approximations can be made which allow the spatial region probed by the Auger process in Mg to be determined. The alloying of Mg with other simple metals causes the Mg KLV spectra to become distorted. The Mg KLV spectra of a LiMg alloy are presented which show considerable modification from the pure metal. Using the embedding technique, these spectra are simulated and the presence of a virtual bound state is predicted around a core-ionized Mg site. High resolution spectra of the KL_ {2,3}-L_{2,3} L_{2,3}V Auger satellite transitions of Mg and Al, which lie to high kinetic energy of the KL_{2,3}V Auger transition, are shown and an attempt made to simulate the profiles of these satellites. This is achieved by determining the intensity and shape of each component by the use of atomic transition rate calculations and lineshapes obtained using the embedding technique. The satellite profile of Al may be explained in this way, however, one feature remains unexplained in the spectrum of Mg. The N_{6,7}O _{4,5}O_ {4,5} and N_{7} O_{4,5}O _{4,5} Auger profiles of Au are presented and the N_{6}O _{4,5}O_ {4,5} profile found by subtraction. By the removal of a background it will be possible to compare these transitions with theoretical calculations. The requirements for subtracting a suitable background are discussed.