Experimental estimate of absorption length and total electron yield (TEY) probing depth in dysprosium

Abstract

Absorption spectroscopy has been performed at the M5 edge of dysprosium and at the L2,3 edges of nickel by collecting the total electron yield (TEY) in Dy layers of different thicknesses deposited on a Ni(110) substrate. From the thickness dependence of the Ni intensity and from the angular dependence of the Dy intensity we have obtained an experimental estimate of the probing depth and of the minimum absorption length. Both values are found to be very small. We discuss the implications of these results on XAS measurements in TEY mode.