Applying XPS to support industrial research and manufacturing

Abstract

X-ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) is a widely-used technique for surface chemical analysis. In an industrial laboratory XPS can be used for a wide variety of applications ranging from identification of contamination on a surface to characterization of materials as process control, or as a method for characterizing new materials in a research environment. Some analyses are performed to provide a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to questions such as ‘is silicone present?’ or ‘was the surface plasma treated?’. In other cases, qualitative analysis or a simple approach for quantification does not adequately describe a material. A more detailed analysis may require imaging or depth profiling, and the use of numerical methods such as curve fitting, overlayer modeling, or linear least squares fitting to more accurately describe a material. We relate selected vignettes where XPS spectral analysis, imaging, and sputter profiling are applied to some of the many types of samples that have come into our industrial laboratory.