Surface charging effects on valence band spectra in X-ray photoemission: Crystalline and Amorphous As2S3

In X-ray photoemission (XPS) studies on insulators, strong electric fields associated with surface charging can perturb the observed spectra. We find that the standard technique of flooding with thermal electrons to neutralize the net charge does not eliminate this effect for valence band spectra, but that the use of thin or (for photoconductors) illuminated samples does solve the problem. These conclusions are demonstrated by experiments revealing new structure in, and real differences between, the XPS valence band spectra of crystalline and amorphous As₂S₃.