Determination of P/Al ratio in phosphorus-doped aluminium oxide thin films by XRF,RBS and FTIR

Phosphorus-doped aluminium oxide thin films were deposited in a flow-type ALE reactor from AlCl₃, H₂O and from either P₂O₅ or trimethyl-phosphate. Structural information of the films was obtained from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) was used to quantitatively determine the composition of the films. The P/Al intensity ratios calculated from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) results were in a linear relation with the P/Al concentration ratios calculated from RBS results. For comparison, the intensity ratios of the phosphorus peak (P=O) at about 1250 cm^–1 and the aluminium peak (Al-O) at about 950 cm^–1 were determined from the IR absorption spectra. The calibration of FTIR peak intensities was done by plotting the intensity ratios of phosphorus and aluminium peaks against the P/Al concentration ratios measured by RBS. FTIR gave also a linear calibration curve with RBS but the method is less suitable for routine analysis of P/Al ratio than XRF.     

Metal content determination in polymerization catalysts by direct methods

Metal contents in polymerization catalysts were comparatively determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Catalysts were prepared by grafting metallocene onto bare silica or onto silica chemically modified with methylaluminoxane (MAO). Catalysts were compressed as self-supporting pellets (RBS and XRF), or mounted on adhesive copper tape (XPS). The proximity of the mass of the atomic nuclei did not allow resolution by RBS of the signals corresponding to Zr and Nb, nor Si and Al in catalyst systems such as (nBuCp)₂ZrCl₂/Cp₂NbCl₂/MAO/SiO₂. On the other hand, Zr, Nb, Si and Al lines were completely resolved in an XRF spectrum. For supported metallocenes on bare silica, XPS measurement was ca. 40% higher than that obtained by RBS. Silica-supported zirconocene showed good agreement in Zr content determination by XRF and RBS.     

Critical review of the current status of thickness measurements for ultrathin SiO2 on Si Part V: Results of a CCQM pilot study

Results are reported from a pilot study under the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM) to compare measurements of and resolve any relevant measurement issues in the amount of thermal oxide on (100) and (111) orientation silicon wafer substrates in the thickness range 1.5–8 nm. As a result of the invitation to participate in this activity, 45 sets of measurements have been made in different laboratories using 10 analytical methods: medium—energy ion scattering spectrometry (MEIS), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA), RBS, elastic backscattering spectrometry (EBS), XPS, SIMS, ellipsometry, grazing—incidence x‐ray reflectometry (GIXRR), neutron reflectometry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The measurements are made on separate sets of 10 carefully prepared samples, all of which have been characterized by a combination of ellipsometry and XPS using carefully established reference conditions and reference parameters. The results have been assessed against the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) data and all show excellent linearity. The data sets correlate with the NPL data with average root‐mean‐square scatters of 0.15 nm, half being better than 0.1 nm and a few at or better than 0.05 nm. Each set of data allows a relative scaling constant and a zero thickness offset to be determined. Each method has an inherent zero thickness offset between 0 nm and 1 nm and it is these offsets, measured here for the first time, that have caused many problems in the past. There are three basic classes of offset: water and carbonaceous contamination equivalent to ～ 1 nm as seen by ellipsometry; adsorbed oxygen mainly from water at an equivalent thickness of 0.5 nm as seen by MEIS, NRA, RBS and possibly GIXRR; and no offset as seen by XPS using the Si 2p peaks. Each technique has a different uncertainty for the scaling constant and consistent results have been achieved. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy has large uncertainties for the scaling constant but a high precision and critically, if used correctly, has zero offset. Thus, a combination of XPS and the other methods allows the XPS scaling constant to be determined with low uncertainty, traceable via the other methods. The XPS laboratories returning results early were invited to test a new reference procedure. All showed very significant improvements. The reference attenuation lengths thus need scaling by 0.986 ± 0.009 (at an expansion factor of 2), deduced from the data for the other methods. Several other methods have small offsets and, to the extent that these can be shown to be constant or measurable, these methods will also show low uncertainty. Recommendations are provided for parameters for XPS, MEIS, RBS and NRA to improve their accuracy. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of the first nucleation steps of thin films by XPS inelastic peak shape analysis

The initial steps in the formation of thin films have been investigated by analysis of the peak shape (both inelastic background and elastic contributions) of X‐ray photoelectron spectra. Surface coverage and averaged height of the deposited particles have been estimated for several overlayers (nanometre range) after successive deposition cycles. This study has permitted the assessment of the type of nucleation and growth mechanisms of the films. The experiments have been carried out in situ in the preparation chamber of an XPS spectrometer. To check the performance of the method, several materials (i.e. cerium oxide, vanadium oxide and cadmium sulfide) have been deposited on different substrates using a variety of preparation procedures (i.e. thermal evaporation, ion beam assisted deposition and plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition). It is shown that the first deposited nuclei of the films are usually formed by three‐dimensional particles whose heights and degree of surface coverage depend on the chemical characteristics of the growing thin film and substrate materials, as well as the deposition procedure. It is concluded that XPS peak shape analysis can be satisfactorily used as a general method to characterize morphologically the first nanometric moieties that nucleate a thin film. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Charge referencing issues in XPS of insulators as evidenced in the case of Al‐Si‐N thin films

Accurate charge referencing in XPS of insulating specimens is a delicate issue. This difficulty is illustrated in the case of Al‐Si‐N composite thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering with variable composition from pure aluminum nitride to pure silicon nitride. The samples were mounted with Au‐coated metallic clamps. Argon sputter cleaning was required to remove a surface native oxide before analysis. For charge referencing implanted argon atoms from the sputter gas and a small amount of gold re‐deposited from the metallic clamps onto the specimen surface during sputter cleaning were evaluated. For the argon atoms, a surprisingly large chemical shift (～1 eV) and a significant peak broadening (0.6 eV) of the Ar 2p_3/2 photoelectron line were found with varying the Si content of the films. This could be related to chemical and structural changes of the Al‐Si‐N films. Hence implanted argon could not be used for charge referencing of Al‐Si‐N samples. In contrast to the implanted argon, the Au 4f_7/2 line width of the gold re‐deposited onto the sample surface did not depend on the Si content of Al‐Si‐N films. A constant energy shift (～1.2 eV) of the Au 4f_7/2 line as compared with bulk gold was, however, found, which was related to the size of gold particles formed on the insulating films. Therefore gold could be reliably used to study chemical shifts of sample‐relevant species in Al‐Si‐N films, but the absolute binding energies of Al 2p, Si 2p and N 1s photoelectrons could not be determined. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nondestructive characterization of nanoscale layered samples

Multilayered samples consisting of Al, Co and Ni nanolayers were produced by MBE and characterized nondestructively by means of SRXRF, μ-XRF, WDXRF, RBS, XRR, and destructively with SIMS. The main aims were to identify the elements, to determine their purity and their sequence, and also to examine the roughness, density, homogeneity and thickness of each layer. Most of these important properties could be determined by XRF methods, e.g., on commercial devices. For the thickness, it was found that all of the results obtained via XRR, RBS, SIMS and various XRF methods (SRXRF, μ-XRF, WDXRF) agreed with each other within the limits of uncertainty, and a constant deviation from the presets used in the MBE production method was observed. Some serious preliminary discrepancies in the results from the XRF methods were examined, but all deviations could be explained by introducing various corrections into the evaluation methods and/or redetermining some fundamental parameters.     

Studies of AuNi alloys by electron spectroscopies with the aid of the line shape analysis by the pattern recognition method

The spectrum of electrons elastically backscattered from the surface and within its vicinity reflects the probability of electron elastic backscattering on the surface atoms, quasi‐elastic scattering and the inelastic scattering visible in the low energy side of the elastic peak. The method for investigating the processes of electron elastic backscattering on the surface atom is called the elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES). In the present work, AuNi alloys of different compositions are investigated using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the EPES method with the aid of the line shape analysis called the fuzzy k‐nearest neighbour (fkNN) rule. The line shape analysis was found to be applicable for EPES spectroscopy. It allows distinguishing the surfaces exhibiting various surface roughness, texture and grain size, and quantifying the selected information depths. The quantitative results obtained from the XPS analysis and the EPES spectra line shape analysis indicated Au surface segregation with Au surface enriched profile. Quantitative discrepancies are discussed within the non‐uniform concentration profiles of constituents due to sputter cleaning and annealing, different diffusion coefficients for Au and Ni, differences in the information depths sampled by XPS and EPES methods and differences in electron elastic backscattering cross‐sections for Ni and Au. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy without reference samples

A comparison between X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRFA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates the applicability of these two methods as relative and absolute techniques. For XPS the absolute field of application should be preferred. An improvement of the Hirokawa-Ebel method (an absolute XPS analysis) is presented in this paper. It is shown that the knowledge of the inelastic mean free paths of the photoelectrons (IMFP) is no longer required, but the energy dependence of the IMFPs can be used as a basis. This guarantees simplicity and much more universal applicability.     

XPS光电子峰和俄歇电子峰峰位表

在长期从事XPS分析测试的经验基础上,搜集了有关文献中的大量数据,编制了XPS光电子峰和俄歇电子峰峰位表,用于正确识别各种样品XPS谱图中的电子峰,达到快速、正确分析各种样品元素组成和化学组成的目的．本峰位表对于从事XPS测试的分析人员和应用XPS的科技人员具有很好的实用价值．     

Structural,optical and photoelectron spectroscopic studies of nano/micro ZnO:Cd rods synthesized via sol-gel route

Thin films of cadmium doped zinc oxide rod like microstructure have been synthesized by a very simple sol-gel dip coating technique. Sols were prepared from hydrated zinc oxide precursor and 2-methoxyethanol solvent with monoethanolamine as a sol stabilizer. XRD pattern confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure of the deposited ZnO films. Surface morphologies of the films have been studied by a scanning electron microscope and an atomic force microscope, which confirmed that the films are composed of densely packed randomly oriented nano/submicron rods with diameter in the range 300–400 nm having various lengths. We proposed a possible growth mechanism for this rodlike structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study was used to determine the binding energies and the Zn 2p3/2, Cd 3d5 and O 1s peaks in the XPS spectra were located at 1021.08 eV, 404.6 eV and 529.8 eV respectively, which confirmed the Cd doping in ZnO. Cadmium content in the film was estimated both from energy dispersive X-ray analysis and XPS measurement. Band gap energy determined from optical transmittance spectra systematically varied from 3.28 eV to 3.15 eV for 0% to 5.6% of Cd doping. Urbach parameter determined from the band tail of the transmittance spectra showed that it increased with doping percentage and this parameter for a fixed cadmium doping level decreased with increase of temperature.     

Interfacial interaction between ZnO thin film and polyimide substrate investigated by XPS and DFT calculation

The interfacial interaction between the ZnO film and the polyimide substrate was investigated by XPS and density functional theory (DFT) calculation, for the ZnO thin films deposited on polyimide (PI) substrates using cathodic vacuum arc deposition technique. The XPS results showed that a shoulder peak was present for the ZnO film with the thickness of about 15 nm, used for depth profiling, at the binding energy 1 eV higher than that of the Zn2p3 core level for bulk ZnO. Such a shoulder peak is attributed to the interaction between the ZnO and the polyimide. This agrees with the results of DFT calculation. Furthermore, the difference in adsorption energy between the polyimide monomer and the ZnO molecule at different adsorption sites showed that the carbonyl (C?O) plays an important role in the interfacial strength. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absolute quantitation of host cell proteins in recombinant human monoclonal antibodies with an automated CZE‐ESI‐MS/MS system

We report the first use of CZE for absolute characterization of host cell proteins (HCPs) in recombinant human monoclonal antibodies. An electrokinetically pumped nanoelectrospray interface was used to couple CZE with a tandem mass spectrometer. Three isotopic‐labeled peptides (LSFDKDAMVAR, VDIVENQAMDTR, and LVSDEMVVELIEK) were synthesized by direct incorporation of an isotope‐labeled lysine or arginine. The heavy‐labeled peptides were spiked in the HCP digests at known concentrations. After CZE‐ESI‐MS/MS analysis, the peaks of native and isotopic‐labeled peptides were extracted with mass tolerance ≤ 5 ppm from the electropherograms, and the ratios of peak area between native and isotopic‐labeled peptides pairs were calculated. Calibration curves (the ratios of peak area versus spiked peptide amount) with R² values of 0.999, 0.997, and 0.999 were obtained for the three HCP peptides, and the absolute amounts of the three proteins present were determined to be at the picomole level in a 20 μg sample of digested HCPs. The target proteins were present at the 7–30 ppt level in the purified HCP samples.     

Quantitative AES,XPS and RBS determination of intergranular bismuth coverage in copper bicrystals at 500 °C

We report on a comparative measurement of intergranular bismuth coverage on a copper substrate using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). Bicrystalline copper samples were put in presence of bismuth vapour at 500 °C (consequently embrittled by the grain‐boundary penetration of Bi atoms), water‐quenched and subsequently fractured at room temperature. Each fracture surface was analysed by AES, XPS and RBS with the help of quantitative procedures developed for each of the three techniques. All possible sources of discrepancy were carefully examined. The combined quantitative approaches have led to excellent agreement. Such a good agreement constitutes a necessary condition to begin a critical discussion on the mechanisms potentially involved in the liquid metal embrittlement (LME) phenomenon. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of multiplet splitting of Fe 2p XPS spectra and bonding in iron compounds

Ferrous (Fe²⁺) and ferric (Fe³⁺) compounds were investigated by XPS to determine the usefulness of calculated multiplet peaks to fit high‐resolution iron 2p_3/2 spectra from high‐spin compounds. The multiplets were found to fit most spectra well, particularly when contributions attributed to surface peaks and shake‐up satellites were included. This information was useful for fitting of the complex Fe 2p_3/2 spectra for Fe₃O₄ where both Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ species are present. It was found that as the ionic bond character of the iron —ligand bond increased, the binding energy associated with either the ferrous or ferric 2p_3/2 photoelectron peak also increased. This was determined to be due to the decrease in shielding of the iron cation by the more increasingly electronegative ligands. It was also observed that the difference in energy between a high‐spin iron 2p_3/2 peak and its corresponding shake‐up satellite peak increased as the electronegativity of the ligand increased. The extrinsic loss spectra for ion oxides are also reported; these are as characteristic of each species as are the photoelectron peaks. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficiency of automated peak identification with daily used commercial software for X‐ray photoelectron spectra ‐ report from VAMAS/TWA 2/A 9 project

In the first step of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, photoelectron peaks in a survey spectrum for the specimen of interest are generally identified as arising from particular elements and electron energy levels. This peak identification is performed using sophisticated software on commercial XPS instruments. For the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS)/Technical Working Area (TWA) 2/A 9 project, automated peak‐identification efficiency using commercial software utilities has been investigated with simulated test XPS spectra. This efficiency has been investigated with reference peaks that were detected by eye in our previous work [SIA, 2008, 40, 1337]. We found (i) one software that identified the binding energy (BE) at the peak maximum for a fitted curve in the peak region, a second that reported the BE stored in its database, and a third that reported the BE as the local maximum, (ii) software does not identify some weak peaks even though they were obviously detected by analysts, (iii) only one major peak of a doublet appeared to be in software database when the energy separation is less than about 4 eV such as 3.6 eV for Au 4f, and (iv) the identification efficiency is larger than 90% when the ratio between peak height and noise amplitude is greater than 10. We suggest several things for improving software design to assist non‐expert analysts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stoichiometric and structural analyses of thin high-Tc superconducting Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O films on silicon

Summary For the analyses of stoichiometry and structure of laser deposited Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films and yttria stabilized zirconia buffer layers on silicon, the methods XRF, PIXE with low incidence energy, RBS and XRD were used. In the results a change of stoichiometry from target into the thin film was observed and the spatial intensity distribution of the laser plasma was measured. The degree of interdiffusion of thin film and substrate and the formation of the perovskite-structure during post annealing were determined. The Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O films are highly c-axis oriented perpendicular to the surface and mainly consist of the low-T_c phase with c=30.8 A.     

雾化高温分解法铜基甲醇合成催化剂的活性位

本文测定了雾化高温分解（ＡＨＴＤ）法制备的一系列Ｃｕ／ＺｎＯ催化剂的铜表面积，并将其与催化活性进行了关联。结果表明在含有ＣＯ２的原料气中，催化剂活性位可能是由Ｃｕ＾０组成。ＡＨＴＤ法Ｃｕ／ＺｎＯ催化剂的ＣＯ－ＴＰＤ显示出两个明显的脱附峰，低温脱附的ＣＯ可能是吸附在Ｃｕ＾＋上的。Ｃｕ＾＋在无ＣＯ２的原料气中起了催化作用。Ｘ射线诱导Ａｕｇｅｒ谱测定结果表明，还原活化后和反应２小时后催化剂表面除大量的Ｃ     

Application of XPS imaging analysis in understanding interfacial delamination and X‐ray radiation degradation of PMMA

The recent development of X‐ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) instrumentation with spatial resolution down to several microns has advanced the capability of elemental and chemical state imaging. XPS imaging analysis has been applied in understanding the delamination problems of siloxane coatings on polymethyl‐methacrylate (PMMA) polymer. It was found that delamination occurred by interfacial failure, and the coating suffered complete delamination from a PMMA substrate. This example offered an opportunity for the investigation of X‐ray damage on polymers encountered in XPS imaging analysis. This paper also demonstrated how to construct a constrained peak model with the aid of chemical knowledge and supporting evidence of the sample. Monte Carlo error analysis was used to determine the validity of the peak fit models used. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigations on the surface modification of ZnO nanoparticle photocatalyst by depositing Pd

In this paper, ZnO nanoparticle photocatalysts were modified by depositing Pd on their surfaces with a photoreduction method. We mainly investigated the modification mechanisms as well as the effects on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles of deposited Pd by means of XPS and SPS (Surface Photovoltage Spectroscopy), and the effects of Pd content on SPS responses were also discussed from the point of the electronic energy level. The results showed that the content of crystal lattice oxygen on the surface of ZnO nanoparticle decreased after an appropriate amount of Pd was deposited, while that of adsorbed oxygen increased, indicating that Pd was mainly deposited on the crystal lattice oxygen. At the same time, the intensity of SPS responses of ZnO nanoparticles remarkably decreased. In addition, the activity of ZnO nanoparticles could be greatly improved by depositing an appropriate amount of Pd in the gas phase photocatalytic oxidation of n-C₇H₁₆. Thus, it could be concluded that the increase in surface content of adsorbed oxygen could facilitate the photocatalytic reaction, and there were close relationships between the SPS response and photocatalytic activity, i.e. the weaker the SPS response, the higher the photocatalytic activity, of Pd-deposited ZnO nanoparticles.