Microspot elementary and chemical analyses using combined high energy resolution Auger electron spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Chemical information contained in Auger lines, measured on a spot area of less than 10 μm, is compared to x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data obtained on a larger scale. Measurements for Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and XPS are performed under exactly the same experimental conditions using a new high sensitivity and high resolution energy analyzer, so that the Auger lines excited by electrons and photons are directly comparable. An application is the analysis of the chemical composition of the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown GaAs layer on a microscopic scale. Chemical heterogeneities associated with the presence of growth defects are revealed.