ELECTRON-BEAM EFFECTS DURING THE SPUTTER PROFILING OF THIN AU-AG FILMS ANALYZED BY AUGER-ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY

The depth profiles of thin films consisting of a 200 Å layer of silver deposited on a glass substrate and a 200 Å overlayer of gold were obtained by simultaneous argon ion sputtering and Auger electron spectroscopy. The measured profiles depend strongly on the power of the primary electron beam. At high power input (5 keV, 35 μA) the profile is completely altered because of local heating. Comparison with interdiffusion profiles of Ag/Au (1000 Å/1000 Å) films annealed at 400 °C and consideration of the combined action of diffusion, evaporation and temperature-enhanced sputtering show that local temperatures up to 700 °C may occur. © 1979.