Abstract
We report new measurements of the surface ionization Phi(0) for Ge K alpha and L alpha X-rays on an Fe substrate, Ga K alpha and L alpha X-rays on an Ni substrate, and Au M alpha X-rays on Si, W and Ta substrates. The measurements were performed using the tracer technique for electron incident energies ranging from the ionization threshold up to about 40 keV. Improvements in sample preparation and in the X-ray measurement technique enabled surface ionization values to be obtained with uncertainties less than 2%. Simulations of Phi(0) for the studied cases were performed using the general-purpose Monte Carlo (MC) code PENELOPE. Experimental measurements are compared with simulation results and with the results of several predictive formulae widely used in electron probe microanalysis and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The accuracy of the reported measurements makes it possible to assess the reliability of the different calculations for incident electron energies below 10 keV.