SURFACE-ANALYSIS BY TOTAL-REFLECTION X-RAY-FLUORESCENCE

This work shows the feasibility of surface analysis though the detecti on of characteristic fluorescent radiation in the total-reflection reg ime. A theoretical formalism to correlate surface parameters with X-ra y fluorescence intensities from multiple-layer samples was developed. Experimental measurements were performed in the Microanalysis Station of the Frascati National Laboratory, Italy. The samples were Si wafers with surface layers of different thicknesses of Cr. The angular depen dence of the K-alpha fluorescent intensity emitted by Cr was recorded with a Si(Li) detector, and the obtained data were fitted to the corre spondent theoretical expression. Our results agreed very well with the values measured during sample fabrication. Diffusion processes of the surface layer into the substrates were also considered. They were ana lysed assuming a middle layer between the surface layer and the substr ate. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.