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Quantification of oxide film thickness at the surface of aluminium using XPS
Author(s) -
Alexander M. R.,
Thompson G. E.,
Zhou X.,
Beamson G.,
Fairley N.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.1344
Subject(s) - x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , aluminium , oxide , metal , analytical chemistry (journal) , hydroxide , aluminum oxide , aluminium oxide , materials science , layer (electronics) , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , metallurgy , composite material , chemical engineering , chromatography , engineering
Oxide films grown anodically at the surface of superpure aluminium are used as standards to assess the accuracy of the thickness ( d XPS ) determined using the Beer–Lambert treatment of the Al 2p metal and oxide peak intensities. For the fitting conditions employed, the value of d XPS is found to be very close to the true film thickness for films <10 nm thick, beyond which imprecise values are obtained. A surface layer of hydration is identified from the curve fitting of the O 1s core level, which would qualitatively account for the slight underestimate of film thickness provided by the expression for d XPS . The validity of the Al 2p fit may be determined through this correlation of thickness but requires first a quantitative assessment of the thickness and composition of the hydroxide‐rich layer. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.