AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Novel Trends in Synchrotron and FEL-Based Analysis Focus Topic Monday Sessions
       Session SA-MoM

Paper SA-MoM3
Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectra (HXPES) of Bulk Non-Conducting Silicate Glasses

Monday, November 10, 2014, 9:00 am, Room 312

Session: Synchrotron Studies of Processes in Energy Conversion, Electronic Devices and Other Materials I
Presenter: Yongfeng Hu, Canadian Light Source, Canada
Authors: Y.F. Hu, Canadian Light Source, Canada
Q.F. Xiao, Canadian Light Source, Canada
X.Y. Cui, Canadian Light Source, Canada
D. Wang, Canadian Light Source, Canada
G.M. Bancroft, University of Western Ontario, Canada
H.W. Nesbitt, University of Western Ontario, Canada
M. Biesinger, University of Western Ontario, Canada
Correspondent: Click to Email
Bulk studies of non-conducting oxides and silicates, such as silicate glasses containing cations such as Na, K, Mg and Ca are important to obtain quantitative bulk information of bridging oxygen ( Si-O-Si, so-called BO), non-bridging oxygen ( Si-O-M, so-called NBO), and "free oxygen ( M-O-M ). These studies have been so far limited to the XPS studies using spectrometers equipped with modern charge compensation systems, such as Kratos or ESCALAB 250Xi.1,2 Such measurements are very important for determining the chemical and physical properties of a wide variety of silicate minerals and glasses2. Synchrotron-based hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HXPES) has recently been applied to the characterization of surfaces and interfaces of advanced materials. In this work, we will demonstrate that the HXPES, without any charge compensation system, can avoid the large differential charging problems usually seen with bulk non-conductors using conventional XPS instruments. These problems are overcome by depositing a thin metal coating on the glass surface and by taking advantage of the large and variable probing depth offered by HXPES. We show that the optimal O 1s linewidth, matching to that of the Krotos’ results, can be obtained for the non-conducting silicate glasses using HXPES. Together with the high resolution Si 1s results, these HXPES data are critical for accurate analysis of the BO, NBO and free oxide content of these silicate glasses.

[1] H. W. Nesbitt, G.M. Bancroft, G.S. Henderson, R.Ho, K.N. Dalby, Y. Huang, Z. Yan, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 357 (2011) 170.

[2] H.W.Nesbitt, G.M. Bancroft, Rev. Min. Geochem. 78 (2014) 271.