Date Thesis Awarded

5-2019

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Science (BS)

Department

Physics

Advisor

Dr William Cooke

Committee Members

Dr Seth Aubin

Dr Hannes Schniepp

Abstract

This thesis describes the design, adaptations and characterizations necessary to partially turn an Auger Electron Spectroscopy Instrument (AES) into an Auger Electron Microscope (AEM). The completed AEM will be able to scan and characterize materials over an area, unlike the AES which only took data from a single point. However, due to time constraints, this thesis only partially describes the creation of an AEM. We were able to show proof-of-concept, though, we were unable to run AEM on a material. We have also increased the theoretical accuracy of the instrument by replacing decades-old electronics with modern alternatives. Again, due to time constraints, we are currently unable to certify this, as we are limited by certain reoccurring errors in our data. Auger Microscopes are powerful tools in surface and deposition characterization. We intend to use the AEM to analyze deposition processes used in the creation of thin film solid state batteries and determine possible defects in the deposition process. To characterize the abilities of our instrument, we first replicated and compared our instrument against the spectrometer's current capabilities. Then we scanned the electron beam across a surface to show that we can create a one dimensional map of our Cylindrical Mirror analyzer's focal point. While we have not successfully shown Auger Microscopy with this instrument, we have left this project with the necessary tools to do so.

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