Specific Process Knowledge/Characterization/XPS

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XPS-ThermoScientific

The XPS system placed at Danchip (room 904, building 346).

A X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) system can be used at Danchip. The system is a Thermo K-Alpha system, placed in the basement of building 346.

The user manual(s), user APV(s), technical information and contact information can be found in LabManager:

XPS-ThermoScientific in LabManager

Elemental analysis

The XPS instrument can be used to do elemental analysis, chemical state analysis on the sample surface or deeper down by a depth profiling. A comparison about techniques and instruments used for elemental analysis at Danchip can be found on the page Element analysis.

More about the different possibilities with the XPS instrument is found here:

• XPS technique
• Elemental composition analysis
• Chemical state analysis
• Depth profiling

XPS technique

XPS is a surface sensitive and non destructive technique used for analysis of the elemental composition. Only the outermost atomic layers (some nanometers) are probed, but with an ion gun etch it is possible to probe deeper laying layers.

In the XPS spectrometer system the probed samples are irradiated by photons with a specific energy, and the photoelectrons that leaves the sample are detected. The energy levels of the electrons are elemental specific, and by measuring the energy of the outgoing electrons, it is possible to detect which elements that are present in a sample.

You can read further about the technique here: [1]

Equipment performance of XPS-ThermoScientific

Purpose	Chemical analysis	Probing elemental composition Chemical state identification Non destructive technique Surface sensitive Depth profiling possible by ion beam etch of sample
Performance	Spot size	Can be set between 30µm - 400µm
	Probing depth	Depending on probed element. Max probe depth lies within 10-200 Å.
	Resolution	Dependent on probed elements. Concentrations down to about 0,5 atomic % can in some cases be detected.
	Charge compensation	Flood gun can be used for charge compensation of non conductive samples
	Finding structures	Choose measuring spot from camera image (magnified)
Depth profiling	Purpose	With ion beam etch the top layer of the material can be removed, to do a depth profiling
	Ion beam size	About 0,3x1 mm
Substrates	Substrate size	Max 60x60 mm
	Substrate thickness	Max height about 20 mm