Deconvolution methods applied to sputter depth profiles at interfaces

Abstract

Deconvolution methods are used in several electron spectroscopies to improve the experimental results which are masked by instrumental effects and by physical processes involved in the measurements. In Auger electron spectroscopy sputter depth profiles, deconvolution methods have been employed to approximate the measured composition profiles to the supposedly original profiles. In this work a method is presented based on the development in power series of both the function representing the experimental results and the original function. It is shown that the original concentration profile can be obtained at every point by convoluting its power series with the resolution function and comparing the result with the power series corresponding to the experimental function. Even with very few terms in the series development, it has been proved that the proposed method generally shows a faster convergence and involves less computation time than the inverse Fourier transform and the van Citter methods.