Auger analysis of chlorine in "hCl- or Cl₂-grown" SiO₂ films

Auger analysis of SiO2 films thermally grown in O2 in the presence of HCl or Cl2 shows that the incorporated Cl is unstable during the measurement. Cl profiling and mass-spectrometric sampling indicate that ionized Cl is transported in the electric field to the vacuum-oxide interface where it is desorbed by high-energy electrons. This instability restricts the usefulness of the Auger technique. © 1973 American Institute of Physics.