The importance of surface technology has grown in tandem with the growing need for high-performance materials. Surface modification and surface analysis are used by researchers to change or improve the properties of materials, while surface analysis is used to interpret surface chemical information and investigate the consequences of surface technology. One of the primary instruments for surface characterization is X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which is a particularly suited method for assessing any surface chemical composition.
Alfa Chemistry may utilize XPS to investigate a wide range of materials, whether they are solid or powdered. Even remnants in liquid solutions can be studied after being filtered and dried. Please contact us if you have any questions about new features in your product!
Learn About X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), also known as electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), is a surface chemical analysis technique that can be used to determine the elemental composition and chemical state information of a material's surface. The kinetic energy of photoelectrons released from the surface of an X-ray-irradiated material is measured with XPS. This energy is proportional to the photoelectron's binding energy in the parent atom and is a property of the element and its chemical state.
Only the electrons generated near the surface can escape without losing too much energy for detection. This means that XPS data is collected from the top few nanometers of the surface. It is this surface selectivity, coupled with quantitative chemical state identification, that makes XPS so valuable in many applications.
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Alfa Chemistry
XPS is a surface-sensitive approach with an information depth of no more than 10 nm. The depth profile can also be inferred up to a depth of 1-2 m when combined with the layer-by-layer removal of material by argon ion etching. Alfa Chemistry can not only discover changes in element distribution using imaging XPS but also display and evaluate these discrepancies using chemical mapping. Because elements and compounds have similar binding energies, the examined surface may now be characterized qualitatively and quantitatively.
Fig 1. Application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to examine surface chemistry of cancellous bone and medullary contents to refine bone sample selection for nuclear DNA analysis. (Andronowski J. M, et al. 2019)
The rasterization of the focussed X-rays on the surface determines the position of the released electrons. The spectrum may then be traced back to every point in the vicinity. XPS measurements can be examined and comprehended much more quickly and easily using i-XPS. As a result, a detailed map of all items on a given surface area, such as stains or contaminants, can be created.
Alfa Chemistry can shrink the X-ray beam diameter in the XPS system to 10 m and evaluate individual features as small as a few m in size. We can scan an area as large as 1400 x 1400 m on the other side of the ruler.
The benefits of using our X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis technology include but are not limited to:
- Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the surface composition
- Identification of binding and oxidation state, and chemical functional groups
- Verify all elements except H and He
- The thickness of the surface coating is measured in the range of 1 to 10 nm
- Possibility of two-dimensional imaging of element chemical distribution
Reference
- Andronowski J. M, et al. (2019). "Application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to examine surface chemistry of cancellous bone and medullary contents to refine bone sample selection for nuclear DNA analysis." Spectrom. 34: 2074-2082.
