Comparison and complementarity of QUASES-Tougaard and SESSA software

Abstract

With the recent introduction of numerous commercial lab-scale high-energy X-ray photoemission spectrometers, new possibilities arise for photoemission spectra simulation. The most commonly available software are SESSA and QUASES-Tougaard. In this paper, we present and compare these software for the analysis of the inelastic background of X-ray photoelectron spectra. The QUASES-Tougaard software is a dedicated software for inelastic background analysis already well known for allowing to retrieve the depth distribution of complex stacks and deeply buried layers with a typical 5% accuracy. SESSA is a well-known software to facilitate quantitative interpretation of XPS spectra and to improve the accuracy of quantitative analysis but it is less commonly used for inelastic background analysis. This paper compares their capability to retrieve the depth distribution of elements and presents their main differences and complementarities. The two approaches are discussed using three well different systems from the microelectronic field with different levels of complexity such as the recurrence of an element in several layers or the combination of elements presenting very different cross-sections.