Calibration of electron spectrometers operating in the high energy range

Abstract

AbstractIn spite of the increasing use of electron spectroscopic methods at energies well above the region conventional in surface analysis, standard methods for the calibration of electron spectrometers in this high energy range are not available.In the present work problems of energy, efficiency and resolution calibration of electron spectrometers operating in the high energy (1.5–10 keV) range are discussed and the possibilities of using photoexcited and backscattered electrons, as well as electrons emitted from radioactive samples for calibration, are reviewed. Recommended data available for energy calibration, namely x‐ray and Auger transition energies and deep core binding energies (including recent results of high‐resolution experiments), are presented and the methods proposed (with the necessary experimental conditions) for using these data for energy calibration purposes are discussed. Different methods (based on the use of photoexcited, backscattered electrons or radioactive samples) for determining the relative and absolute efficiency functions, as well as the energy resolution of electron spectrometers operating in the high energy range, are also reviewed and discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.