Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES, Auger) Analysis

Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES, Auger) is a surface-sensitive analytical technique that utilizes a high energy electron beam as an excitation source. Atoms that are excited by the electron beam can relax, leading to the emission of "Auger" electrons. The kinetic energies of the emitted Auger electrons are characteristic of elements present within the top 5-10nm of the sample.

The electron beam can be scanned over a variably sized area, or it can be directly focused on a small surface feature of interest. This ability to focus the electron beam to diameters of 10-20nm makes Auger an extremely useful tool for elemental analysis of small surface features. When used in combination with ion sputter sources, Auger can perform compositional depth profiling.

Evans Analytical Group® (EAG) has unmatched experience handling both routine and non-routine Auger analysis requests and for many years, has applied Auger to many kinds of industrial investigation.

EAG's extensive Auger expertise has direct analytical benefits, whether we analyze sub-μm particles to determine contamination sources in wafer processing equipment or analyze defects in electronic devices to investigate the root cause of failures. Auger has extensive applications in metallurgical studies, including in the determination of oxide layer thickness of electro-polished medical devices, and EAG continually draws on experience to help solve demanding problems from customers.