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Further developments in quantitative X‐ray photoelectron spectromicroscopy: preliminary results from the study of germanium corrosion
Author(s) -
Smith Emily F.,
Briggs David,
Fairley Neal
Publication year - 2006
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.2199
Subject(s) - overlayer , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , germanium , oxide , substrate (aquarium) , materials science , germanium oxide , analytical chemistry (journal) , corrosion , layer (electronics) , auger , x ray , silicon , metallurgy , optics , nanotechnology , chemistry , chemical engineering , physics , geology , engineering , environmental chemistry , oceanography , atomic physics
The moisture‐induced corrosion of an evaporated germanium film has been observed and studied using quantitative X‐ray photoelectron spectromicroscopy. The application of recently reported software for the processing of multi‐spectral image datasets (particularly noise reduction) to this real‐world problem revealed the formation of oxide islands above the continuous passive oxide layer. The software has been developed to map the thickness of these structures within the XPS sampling depth, with a spatial resolution of a few microns. This exemplifies a characterisation methodology of use in any situation where (non‐uniform) surface modification results in chemically shifted components of the same core level (or Auger peak) between the original substrate and new overlayer. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.