Abstract
We deposited Ag and Au films on a Nb(100) surface terminated with a pseudomorphic Pd monolayer (ML). Instead of continuously decreasing, the Pd-MVV (330 eV) Auger signal received in normal emission from the Pd ML increases for the coverage range of 1 ML–2 ML of the deposited Ag or Au. This increase leads to a Pd-MVV (330 eV) Auger signal even stronger than that coming from the uncovered Pd substrate. We demonstrate that the forward focusing of the Pd-MVV (330 eV) Auger electrons by the growing Ag or Au film is responsible for this effect. We subsequently show how this phenomenon can be used to determine the absolute thickness of the deposited films, making Auger electron diffraction more useful for film thickness determination than signal damping in Auger electron spectroscopy.