Angle‐resolved XPS: a critical evaluation for various applications

Abstract

Angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) is widely accepted as a useful tool for nondestructive in-depth analysis of near surface regions. In the present paper, it is shown for a variety of applications which kind of qualitative and quantitative information can be derived from ARXPS measurements in conjunction with appropriate mathematical modeling. The method is limited mainly by problems arising from contamination, roughness or preparation-induced damage. Furthermore, especially for more complex surface structures, it must be considered that the information content of ARXPS is strongly limited and the calculations have to be supported by other knowledge.

Modeling of complex surface structures for ARXPS

“…[1,2] The ARXPS method utilizes the change of the effective information depth via variation of the measurement angle. In series of XPS measurements at different emission angles depth information is collected from the first few nanometers, however, for quantitative interpretation always model calculations are necessary.…”

Initial growth of W‐based films deposited on Si studied with ARXPS

“…Details on the used calculation procedure can be found in previous papers. [12,13] One of the major steps in ARXPS investigation is the selection of an appropriate model and suitable starting conditions for the optimization calculations. Both information on the sample preparation process (e.g.…”

“…[8 -11] We used XPS for analysis because it can characterize the interface chemistry by analysis of chemical shifts of the photoelectron peaks. With angle-resolved XPS (ARXPS), additional nondestructive depth information can be derived and may be used to reconstruct element depth profiles at the nanometer thickness level [12,13] in the interface regions. For the mentioned Ta-and Ti-based systems, we found various phase formation such as silicide, nitride, and oxide formation.…”

Non-Destructive Depth Profiling of the Activated Ti-Zr-V Getter by Means of Excitation Energy Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy

“…Depth profiling using ARXPS has been from various points of view repeatedly treated in the literature, see for example. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Another way of depth profiling is to use a fine analysis of the shape of the photoemission lines in question, a technique invented by Tougaard. 22 However, for the reasons discussed in the Discussion section of this paper we decided to use a third possibility, i.e.…”