OPTIMIZATION AND SPECIFICATION OF AUGER-ELECTRON SPECTROMETERS FOR SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO PERFORMANCE

Data are provided for the intensities of the peak and background of th e Cu L3M4,5M4,5 Auger electron peak measured using 5 and 10 keV electr on beams as a function of the angle of incidence alpha, the angle of e mission theta, and the spectrometer resolution R. These data allow the performance of an instrument for sensitivity or signal-to-noise ratio at one condition to be related to any other condition in the ranges 0 less-than-or-equal-to alpha less-than-or-equal-to 70-degrees and 0.1 less-than-or-equal-to R% less-than-or-equal-to 0.9. The performance of a cylindrical mirror analyser with a coaxial electron gun is calculat ed and the behaviour evaluated to show how the most sensitive operatin g regime differs from that of the hemispherical analyser with an input lens. Data are provided to relate the signal-to-noise ratio performan ces of these forms of instrument when recorded under separate conditio ns.