THE INFLUENCE OF OXIDE SURFACE-LAYERS ON BULK ELECTRON-PROBE MICROANALYSIS OF OXYGEN - APPLICATION TO TI-SI-O COMPOUNDS

This paper discusses a generalized method to measure with the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) the oxygen in a material containing a surface oxide layer. The continuum background is the most difficult to measure, particularly for materials in which oxygen-free samples cannot be produced. The method depends on the preparation of either oxygen-free samples or well characterized oxygen-containing samples. Specific application of the method to the Ti-Si-O system is discussed. In addition, measurements of oxide surface-layer thickness of 3.6-8.0 nm on Ti and Ti-Si compounds were obtained using EPMA and a scanning Auger microprobe (SAM). The nature of the oxide surface layers was shown using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).