X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is a surface-sensitive quantitative spectroscopic technique that measures the very topmost 50–60 atoms, 5–10 nm of any surface. It belongs to the family of photoemissi
An inside view of an old-type, non-monochromatic XPS system.
Example of an X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer
Wide-scan or survey spectrum of a somewhat dirty silicon wafer, showing all elements present. A survey spectrum is usually the starting point of most XPS analyses. It allows one to set up subsequent high-resolution XPS spectra acquisition. The inset shows a quantification table indicating the atomic species, their atomic percentages and characteristic binding energies.
High-resolution spectrum of an oxidized silicon wafer in the energy range of the Si 2p signal. The raw data spectrum (red) is fitted with five components or chemical states, A through E. The more oxidized forms of Si (SiOx, x = 1–2) appear at higher binding energies in the broad feature centered at 103.67 eV. The so-called metallic form of silicon, which resides below an upper layer of oxidized silicon, exhibits a set of doublet peaks at 100.30 eV (Si 2
Kai Siegbahn
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Kai Manne Börje Siegbahn was a Swedish physicist who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
…including Henry Moseley, Rawlinson and Robinson, independently performed various experiments to sort out the details in the broad bands. After WWII, Kai Siegbahn and his research group in Uppsala (Sweden) developed several significant improvements in the equipment, and in 1954 recorded the first high-energy-resolution…
Siegbahn in 1981