Ion Etching

For checking or calibration of BE scale:

  1. Load all 3 Calibration Metals onto the same sample mount.  Place them so they are 1 cm apart from each other.
  2. If the Copper or Silver are heavily oxidized, use a single edge razor blade to scrape an area clean enough to be measured.
  3. Load them into your main analysis chamber.
  4. Ion etch each sample just before you actually measure chemical state spectra from them.
    • Gold needs only a little ion etching usually.
    • Silver needs to be ion etched for about 1 minute using 1-2 kV Argon ions.
    • Copper needs to be ion etched for about 2 minutes using 1-2 kV Argon ions