Multi-Technique analysis with the Thermo Scientific Nexsa XPS spectrometer
Thursday, May 30, 2019
11:00am–1:00pm
12-0168, MIT.nano (basement level), Building 12
60 Vassar Street (rear)
Cambridge, MA
Advanced materials present ever increasing challenges to the analytical scientist. Composite materials built from nanostructures or ultra-thin films, often with complex chemistries present, are now required in a broad range of applications, and achieving full characterization is rarely managed using only one analysis method. To maintain confidence in the results from the utilization of several different methods, it is advantageous to be able to perform experiments on the same platform. Ideally, this should be without having to move the sample between several instruments, removing the need for additional registration or processing to ensure that the data is being collected from the same position.
For surface analysis, it has been common for many years to incorporate related analysis techniques onto the same instrument. For example, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) systems are commonly equipped with UV light sources to facilitate investigation of additional properties of materials via ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). The ion source that is typically used for sample cleaning and depth profiling can also be used for low energy ion scattering (LEIS or ISS), providing more surface sensitive elemental composition information than can be delivered from XPS alone.
The latest innovation is to extend the range of offered complimentary techniques to include Raman spectroscopy. The focal points are aligned such that data can be acquired from the same point simultaneously, and that the sizes of the analysis areas are comparable in size. Chemical modifications of the material can be easily determined and quantified with XPS. Raman offers a fast way of determining the quality and conformity of the material, and direct compound identification. The greater depth of field of the Raman spectrometer also offers bulk information to complement the surface sensitive XPS data.
In this presentation, we will discuss the strengths of this combined, in-situ approach to surface analysis, illustrated with examples from a range of applications including carbon nanomaterials, microelectronics and battery materials. We will also describe how advances in ion sources, as exemplified by the Thermo Scientific MAGCIS dual mode ion source, have also contributed to extending the capabilities of surface analysis to encompass an ever-increasing range of applications.