Principle : The spectroscopy of electrons auger is an analytical technique for surfaces that uses an electron beam to high energy as the excitation source. the atoms excited by the electron beam may become free, resulting in the emission of electron ” auger “. the kinetic energies of the auger electrons emitted are characteristic of the elements present in the top 5-10nm of the sample.
for the purposes of microanalysis of surfaces, the process auger is typically induced by a beam of finely focused electrons incident from a few kiloélectronvolts (5 to 25 kev) in a specific equipment having a structure similar to that of a scanning electron microscope equipped with ultra-high vacuum and equipped with an analyzer of the electrons. in microanalysis the local, the electronic probe incident is focused on the detailed analysis and the spectrum of the electrons, emitted between 50 ev and 2.5 kev is acquired. the position energy rays auger helps to determine the nature of the constituent elements and the measurement of the intensity of the lines allows, it, to access their concentrations (quantification, or quantification). the limitations of the technique are related to the disruptive effects of the incident beam of electrons, particularly on the insulating materials or fragile.