High Spatial Resolution Auger Spectroscopy and Nucleation and Growth Studies of SILVER/SILICON(100)
Abstract
The ability to analyse the composition of a sample at high spatial resolution using Auger Electron Spectroscopy is very desirable for both industrial and academic research. The spatial resolution of the traditional Auger instrument is typically limited by the incident beam size to the range of 0.1-1 mum. This dissertation reports the efforts of construction, testing and utilizing a new Auger spectrometer with a nanometer incident probe in a scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). In order to use the 100 keV electron beam of the STEM for the Auger experiment, a low energy electron beam deflection system was designed and constructed. The testing of such deflection system and the spectrometer, both in a test chamber with different hardware configuration and in the microscope, was very extensive. Both Auger spectra and images can be obtained in the microscope with excellent energy resolution in a relatively short time. Quantitative analysis of the data showed a spatial resolution of less than 10 nm was achieved with a good collection efficiency. More quantitative work was carried on the Silver/Silicon(100) system as the application of the Auger instrument. Nucleation and growth phenomena of Ag on Si at both room and elevated temperatures was studied with the microscope operating both in Auger and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) mode. Suggestions for the further improvement of the Auger instrument and the Ag/Si(100) case study are made.
- Publication:
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Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- January 1990
- Bibcode:
- 1990PhDT.......211L
- Keywords:
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- Physics: Condensed Matter; Engineering: Materials Science