Towards a reliable characterisation of oxide layers on pure aluminium using high energy resolution FE‐AES

Al2O3 on metallic aluminium is a widely used material of high technological importance. For the local chemical characterisation of these substrates, field‐emission Auger electron spectroscopy (FE‐AES) bears potential thanks to its high lateral resolution. In this study, the O KLL and Al KLL Auger electron spectral lines are recorded with high energy resolution from pure aluminium, thin Al2O3 and thick Al2O3 layers on metallic aluminium. The behaviour of these aluminium oxide layers under electron beam irradiation is investigated.

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