Page "Auger electron spectroscopy" Paragraph 20
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Attempts to relate the fluorescence and Auger yields to atomic number have resulted in plots similar to figure 4.
A clear transition from electron to photon emission is evident in this chart for increasing atomic number.
For heavier elements, x-ray yield becomes greater than Auger yield, indicating an increased difficulty in measuring the Auger peaks for large Z-values.
Conversely, AES is sensitive to the lighter elements, and unlike X-ray fluorescence, Auger peaks can be detected for elements as light as lithium ( Z = 3 ).
Lithium represents the lower limit for AES sensitivity since the Auger effect is a " three state " event necessitating at least three electrons.
For K-level based transitions, Auger effects are dominant for Z < 15 while for L-and M-level transitions, AES data can be measured for Z ≤ 50.
The yield limits effectively prescribe a cutoff for AES sensitivity, but complex techniques can be utilized to identify heavier elements, such as uranium and americium, using the Auger effect.
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