On the number, binding energies, and mutual intensities of Ce3d peaks in the XPS analysis of cerium oxide systems: A response to Murugan et al., Superlatt. Microstruct. 85 (2015) 321

Abstract

I discuss on an XPS analysis of CeO2 thin films offered by Murugan et al. in a recent article, Superlatt. Microstruct. 85 (2015) 321. I argue that the authors’ interpretation is not an accurate picture of the chemical composition of their material, especially not the mapping of the Ce(IV)-Ce(III) redox couple, because such interpretation largely overlooks the quantum mechanics principles and electron correlation phenomena that govern the binding energies and mutual intensities of photoemission peaks in the Ce3d spectrum. I propose that the spectral feature that the authors observe at ∼522 eV on the binding energy scale is not the O1s component of lattice cerium oxide, as the authors infer, but the AlKα3,4-related satellite of the AlKα1,2 – excited O1s peak, which they observe at ∼532.5 eV.