Implementing the electron backscattering factor in quantitative sputter depth profiling using AES

Sputter depth profiling using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) is influenced by the electron backscattering contribution to the AES intensity. When approaching an interface between two components having a different backscattering factor, the shape of the profile is characteristically distorted. This distortion is taken into account in a modified version of the mixing‐roughness‐information depth (MRI) model. The modification is based on the simplified assumption that the influence of the backscattering effect of the component below the interface increases exponentially with decreasing distance of the actual surface to the interface. Application of the modified MRI model is shown to yield excellent results of profile calculation for AES depth profiling of Si/W, C/Ta, C/Ti, and Au/TiO2 interfaces, with backscattering factor ratios close to those predicted by the Ichimura–Shimizu relation. A simple correction of the backscattering influence is proposed and discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.