When designing, evaluating or operating an Auger electron spectrometer, it is common and appropriate to turn ones attention first to the performance of the primary excitation, and second to the spectrometer. However, in certain types of difficult samples, the desired experimental outcome depends in many cases more on other factors. This paper will describe several examples of such difficult problems which were successfully analyzed by focusing on the sputtering process and the ion gun, with only ordinary emphasis on the electron column and spectrometer. The first example overcomes a common problem for Auger analysts, dealing with very small electrically conductive features that are surrounded by insulating material. With these samples one can make good use of the higher brightness of a magnetically-confined ion source, or duoplasmatron, to depth profile with very small sputtered areas, on the order of ten microns across. Examples of the application of this technique will be drawn from studies of semiconductor technology. The second application involves very thick multilayered stacks of metals, with a thin (200Å) but crucial adhesion layer of chromium buried under seven microns of gold, nickel and copper. By attacking the buried layer from the top, one can establish a baseline for how much oxygen and carbon are present at the bottom of the chromium layer without exposure to ambient, even for films with excellent adhesion. Another example of extended depth profiling will be presented which involved subtle changes in the distribution of @theta@-phase aluminum copper within Al-2% Cu semiconductor interconnects, which had important ramifications in terms of chemical-mechanical polishing.