Silicon surface studies by means of proton backscattering and proton induced X-Ray emission

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Abstract
The contamination of silicon surfaces, treated with different etching solutions is studied by proton backscattering and proton excited characteristic x-ray emission, using primary energies of 100–140 keV. Carbon, oxygen and iodine atoms were observed on the surface. A suitable etching treatment reduced the oxygen coverage to a value of 0.2 monolayer. Furthermore, by using the channelling effect, a correlation between the number of displaced silicon atoms at the surface and the oxygen coverage is demonstrated. Measurements of carbon-K emission cross sections are reported, which enable one to use the characteristic x-ray emission as a quantitative analytical tool.