Specific Process Knowledge/Characterization/XPS/Processing/Basics

XPS data processing guide

This section shows all actions performed with Avantage (version 5.498) during an analysis of a sample.

Open data and save the processing document

Locate the .VGX file in the experiment data tree. Either open the experiment by selecting 'Open Experiment' in Avantage, or double click on the .VGX file. You will see something like this:

It is a very good idea to save the processing document as you analyze the data (Avantage may crash some times) - to do so, select 'Save Processing Document' and you analysis will be saved as a .VGD file.

Spectrum views

Go to top of this page

To start analysing the data we will start by looking at the survey spectrum. Open a new processing document by clicking the button in the toolbar to the left as shown below:

Then drag the survey spectrum into one of the quadrants in the data grid as shown below:

Use the buttons as shown to the right (or below the red square) to

• Maximize spectrum views
• Minimize spectrum views
• Add or remove rows/columns

Analyse survey spectra

Go to top of this page

Maximize the view of the survey spectrum:

As shown in the bottom of the image above, this experiment holds several levels - the reason is that the exeriment is a depth profile in which a repeated set of spectra of a sample are recorded as the surface is gradually removed by an ion bombardment. Scroll through the individual levels and see how the spectra change. Level 0 is the first spectrum.

In the top are several bottoms in the 'Analysis' toolbar. Click the leftmost one called Automatic Survey ID and a automated peak identification routine will commence.