Electron irradiation effect on depth profiling of a SiO2/Si(1 0 0) surface has been studied. A theoretical model for electron stimulated desorption (ESD) and gas adsorption on the solid surface has been proposed. The ESD process on the solid surface has been evaluated by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) combined with a depth profiling technique. Our model can explain the observed ESD effect in low electron current densities less than 30 A/m(2). In higher current densities, the deviation from the model appears because dynamic diffusion process becomes dominant. Furthermore the dependencies of the ion sputtering rate and the depth resolution on the current density of the electron radiation have been observed quantitatively, whose origin has been discussed based on a model. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.