Techniques for the correction of topographical effects in scanning Auger electron microscopy

A number of ratioing methods for correcting Auger images and linescans for topographical contrast are tested using anisotropically etched silicon substrates covered with Au or Ag. Thirteen well-defined angles of incidence are present on each polyhedron produced on the Si by this etching. If N1 electrons are counted at the energy of an Auger peak and N2 are counted in the background above the peak, then N1, N1−N2, (N1−N2)/N2, and (N1−N2)/(N1+N2) are measured and compared as methods of eliminating topographical contrast. The latter method gives the best compensation but can be further improved by using a measurement of the sample absorption current. Various other improvements are discussed.