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Depth profiling of thin films of binary metal oxides
Author(s) -
Kaciulis S.,
Pandolfi L.,
White R.
Publication year - 2004
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.1779
Subject(s) - x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , sputtering , stoichiometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , metal , ion , thin film , chemistry , chemical state , materials science , chemical engineering , metallurgy , nanotechnology , environmental chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Abstract Our previous results on the XPS depth profiling of binary metal oxides are compared with the new experimental data obtained for the films of SnW, MoTi and MoSn oxides. The samples have been prepared by sol–gel and magnetron sputtering techniques. XPS depth profiling of the samples has been carried out by using cyclic Ar + sputtering at the energies of 0.5–2.0 keV. In order to compare the chemical states of constituent elements at different sampling depths, angle‐resolved XPS depth profiling has been performed on selected samples. Starting from the stoichiometric oxides on the surface and going deeper into the volume of the films, the depth profiling revealed there the presence of reduced Mo and W ions. The amount of reduced species and their distribution in depth was found to be independent of the sputtering energy and photoelectron collection angle. These metal ions in lower oxidation states were attributed to the sample preparation processes rather than to the detrimental effect of ion sputtering, dominating at higher ion energies. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.