Applications
XPS explained
How does it work, an introduction
Surface composition
One of the most used applications for XPS is the measurement of the elemental composition of the surface of a material
Element mapping
With a scanning XPS it is possible to map the composition of structured surfaces
Depth profiling
An argon gun facilitates removal of atoms from the surface, generating sputter craters of which the fresh surface can be determined again. This results in a depth profile
Chemical bonds
As each atom in a solid is bound with several neighbours there will be a shift in the electron energy shells due to these bindings. XPS will show these shifts