On the use of Auger technique for quantitative analysis of overlayers

Within a simple model we discuss here the results of a calculation which contributes to the reliability of the use of the Auger technique as a quantitative tool. We consider the adsorption of foreign species on a substrate for three different cases: the submonolayer region, uniform thin film growth and island formation. We show that in all the cases it is possible to find a relation involving the peak-to-peak height ratios of the adsorbate and substrate Auger lines that gives the following information about the system: absolute coverage, thickness of the film and characteristics of the island growth respectively for the above cases. For the submonolayer region, only one Auger spectrum is necessary to evaluate the coverage. In the other cases it is also possible to establish whether the growth proceeds layer by layer or by island formation.