Surface sensitivity of ion-induced Auger electron emission (IAE) spectroscopy

Abstract We investigated the electron emission induced by energetic sputter-deposited Si particles during ion beam sputter deposition of Si on Ge substrate. Electron emission is strictly similar to the ion-induced Auger (IAE) Si spectra and originates in SiSi collisions. Monitoring this “IAE-like” Si yield during the Si layer-by-layer growth, we measured the surface sensitivity of particle-induced electron emission for different energies of the involved particles and for different experimental geometries. We found that the depth sampled by IAE spectroscopy critically depends on the experimental parameters. The surface sensitivity of IAE is, in several cases, larger than that of the corresponding, conventional electron-induced Auger electron emission.