Electron Spectroscopy of Surfaces

Photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) is one of the most established methods for determining the elemental composition and the chemical state of solid surfaces and thin films. This experiment focuses on X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), which exploits Xray photons to excite electrons from the core levels of the atoms of a solid into the vacuum, thus probing the electronic structure of matter with elemental sensitivity and chemical state specificity. The purpose of the experiment is to make the students familiar with the fundamental principles and basic methodology of XPS, also offering an insight into the underlying physics. A number of different samples will be investigated in order to highlight the main information that the technique can provide and to show how XPS can be of relevance for a vast range of systems, not only in condensed matter physics, chemistry, and materials science, but also in applied physics and biophysics. The technical basis of the experiment includes: