| AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Applied Surface Science | Monday Sessions |
| Session AS+MC-MoM |
| Session: | Quantitative Surface Analysis |
| Presenter: | Andrew Wright, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UK |
| Authors: | A.E. Wright, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UK P. Mack, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UK T.S. Nunney, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UK A. Bushell, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UK A. Yeadon, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UK |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a well-established technique that has become a cornerstone of surface analysis due to the wealth of chemical bonding information that it provides. Many other surface sensitive techniques exist, of course, and often can be found on the same instrumentation. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) provides detailed valence electronic structure information. Reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) can yield hydrogen quantification, shake-up transition and band gap information. Ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) offers the most surface-sensitive probe of composition. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) offers chemical information with high spatial resolution. In addition, monatomic and cluster ion beams can be used in concert with these methods for cleaning or depth profiling.
The various techniques can each provide important information in isolation, but the real power of surface analysis comes from combining these analyses of a sample and correlating the information to provide a more thorough characterisation of the material. Traditionally, however, switching between techniques has been difficult or laborious, and this has tended to deter analysts from performing multitechnique studies. Improvements to automation and usability are vital for bringing the less-used methods into common practice.
This paper presents several multitechnique surface analyses of samples in a single instrument (the Thermo Scientific Escalab250Xi) , showing how automated, sequential applications of these complementary chemical, electronic and structural characterisation methods can be applied to polymeric, catalyst, photovoltaic and semiconductor materials, yielding valuable results with minimal effort.