Exam will be wed. Nov. 9 and it will cover AES, XPS and a bit of XRF

See questions suggested for Fall 2011 exam here .

See the 2010 exam here, and the 2007 exam here.

Older questions (from Fall 2010):

Auger spectroscopy

• Meaning of transition nomenclature, eg. what is a KLL transition?
• What is the maximum depth of AES?
• Can Auger electrons be non-core electrons?
• Why is AES a more qualitative than quantitative technique?
• What pressure is best when performing an AES measurement?
• Can the Auger electron emission process be initiated with x-rays?
• Besides the beam electrons, how many electrons are involved in AES?
• Is the kinetic energy of the Auger electrons dependent on the beam energy?
• Do sample charging change the kinetic energy of the Auger electrons?
• What are the typical beam energies used in AES?
• Do sample charging and environmental shifts refer to the same effect in AES?
• Do environmental shifts and chemical shifts refer to the same effect in AES?
• Can photoelectrons be emitted during an AES measurement?
• What does Auger sensitivity refers to?
• Does the Auger sensitivity depend on the electron beam energy?
• What does the background of an Auger spectrum is composed of?
• Why are Auger spectra broader than XPS spectra?
• Why is the AES uses dN/dE instead of N(E) directly?
• Can there be an Auger electron emission without the emission of a photoelectron?
• Can He emit Auger electrons?
• What is the role of the electron multiplier in the AES equipment?

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

• Can x-rays eject non-core electrons?
• What is the maximum depth of XPS?
• Why is XPS a more qualitative than quantitative technique?
• How many electrons are involved in XPS?
• What pressure is best when performing an XPS measurement?
• Is the kinetic energy of the photoelectron dependent on the X-ray beam energy?
• Do sample charging change the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons?
• What are the typical x-ray beam energies used in XPS?
• Do sample charging and environmental shifts refer to the same effect in XPS?
• Do environmental shifts and chemical shifts refer to the same effect in XPS?
• Can Auger electrons be emitted during an XPS measurement?
• Why is the XPS does not use dN/dE instead of N(E)?
• What does x-ray photoelectron sensitivity refers to?
• Does the x-ray photoelectron sensitivity depend on the x-ray beam energy?
• What does the background of an XPS spectrum is composed of?
• Can there be photoelectron emission without the emission of an Auger electron?
• Can XPS be used to identify hydrogen?
• Is there a need for an electron multiplier in the XPS equipment?