Towards a more reliable quantification in photoemission spectroscopy
X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) is a major technique in material science and nanoscience. Beyond its capability to identify elements and their chemical environments, it allows getting stoichiometries through core level peak areas. However, this quantification requires an apparatus correction which is quite often difficult to obtain. In the frame of the Research Federation on Photoemission Spectroscopies (FR-SPE), INSP researchers have participated to a national round-robin involving 10 laboratories on instrument calibration. They have suggested and tested a new method of determination of spectrometer transmission function based on the analysis of metal inelastic background. This approach has been validated successfully against theoretical relative sensitivity factors for classical Al-Ka XPS instruments but also for those at high energy (Cr-Ka). This work paves the way to a more reliable quantification in XPS.
Reference
“Intensity-energy response function of Al/Cr-Kα x-ray photoemission instruments: an inter-laboratory study”
Alamarguy, D. Aureau, T. Conard, F. Georgi, S. Guilet, S. Hajjar-Garreau, O. Heintz, G. Monier, C. Méthivier, H. Montigaud, S. Soule, O. Renault, R. Lazzari
J. Electron Spectrosc. 276 (2024) 147486
