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Auger electron spectroscopy (AES; Auger
pronounced [o??E?] In French) is a common analytical technique used
specifically in the study of surfaces and, more generally, in the area of materials science. Underlying the
spectroscopic technique is the Auger effect, as it has come to be called,
which is based on the analysis of energetic electrons
emitted from an excited atom
after a series of internal relaxation events. The Auger effect was discovered
independently by both Lise Meitner and Pierre Auger in the 1920's. Though the
discovery was made by Meitner and initially reported in the journal
Zeitschrift für Physik in 1922, Auger is credited with the discovery in most
of the scientific community.[1] Until the early 1950's Auger transitions were
considered nuisance effects by spectroscopists, not containing much relevant
material information, but studied so as to explain anomalies in x-ray
spectroscopy data. Since 1953 however, AES has become a practical and
straightforward characterization technique for probing chemical
and compositional surface environments and has found applications in metallurgy, gas-phase chemistry,
and throughout the microelectronics industry
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