Application of Factor Analysis to AES Studiesof Uranium Oxidation by CO and O_2

The Auger spectra acquired from reaction of uranium with CO,or O_2 are mathematically treated with factor analysis with TFA(target factor analysis) function in MULTIPAK software.The results show that FA(factor analysis) is very useful for separating out interferences in standard elemental profiles constructed from overlapping peaks(C_(KLL)、U_(LMM)) and can separate pure components from original Auger data.A thin UC(UC_xO_y,x+y=1) layer is present on the surface after uranium sample is treated in CO atmosphere at 300 ℃ for 1 h,by using FA to Auger sputter depth profile of Carbon.Chemical state depth profiles of uranium and uranium oxide as a function of oxygen dose are present when FA is used to standard Auger sputter profile data from the Auger spectra of uranium,the chemical profile of uranium oxide clearly shows that three oxidation stages present when the oxide layer grows.