ABSTRACT
Institute of Mechanics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IM UB RAS), Izhevsk, Russia
11.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 143 11.2 Experimental Researches ........................................................... 144 11.3 Results and Discussion ............................................................... 145 11.3.1 Fe76.1Si13.8b6.1Nb3Cu alloys ............................................ 145 11.3.2 Fe70Cr15B15 Alloys ......................................................... 150 11.4 Conclusion ................................................................................. 152 Keywords .............................................................................................. 153 References ............................................................................................. 153
11.1 INTRODUCTION
The examination of the concentration profiles of the elements distribution in the depth of the surface layer is among the most common tasks for X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The surface layers are successively removed through bombardment with ions of noble gasses (argon) in the ultrahigh
vacuum chamber of a spectrometer. The associated effects are examined thoroughly enough [1-4]. The works [4, 5] observed how these effects influence the concentration-profile shape. Most attention was paid to the factors distorting the profiles true shape and to the change of the components chemical condition. Among the reason of the distortion of the concentration-profile shape is the difference between the sputtering yields of pure elements and their compounds. The sputtering yields of the elements within compounds are determined by the nature of the interatomic bond. For example, the sputtering yields of nitrides are higher than of pure metals and corresponding borides, even though their sublattices are equal [1]. Such dependence of the sputtering yield on the elements chemical condition supposes that ion bombardment of a multialloy will give nonuniform etching and phases with lower etching coefficients will be represented as prominent unevenness; so they will create or aggravate surface roughness. The roughness changes the surface layers thickness that contributes to the X-ray photoelectron spectrum and influences the proportion of the signals from the substrate and walls of the unevennesses [4]. The work [6] shows that the spectral lines are mostly influenced by the structural inhomogeneities of dozens and hundreds of nanometers. The structural inhomogeneities smaller than 10 nm and bigger than 1000 nm produce far less or no effect on the signal intensity; therefore, they should not deform concentration profiles
This paper observes how the structural condition of the amorphous alloys surface influences the shape of the concentration profiles reflecting the distribution of the components in the depth of the alloy.
