Auger electron spectroscopy from elemental standards. I: Theoretical calculations

New calculations of electron impact ionization cross‐sections and back‐scattering correction factors have been undertaken for comparison with experiment. The ionization cross‐sections were obtained from ab initio Hartree–Fock–Slater calculations and the back‐scattering correction factors from the solution of the Boltzmann transport equation. The cross‐sections and correction factors have been calculated for the elements silicon, copper, silver and tungsten over the energy range 0.3–30 kV and the incident angle range 0–90°. These calculations are compared with previous calculations available in the literature.