About Lancaster XPS

High-energy resolution XPS technique is one of the most versatile techniques for providing chemical information on materials and surfaces.

Our X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) facility, Lancaster XPS, is coordinated by Dr Samuel Jarvis and is located in the Physics department. The instrument is an AXIS Supra X-ray photoemission spectrometer with radial distribution chamber, Ar ion gas cluster source, and integrated sample heating/cooling. The AXIS Supra is a modern state-of-the-art system installed in 2018, and provides exceptionally high sample throughput and measurement quality.

XPS provides information on the chemical composition of the top 10nm (surface layer) of materials with <1% precision. Our XPS has a lateral resolution of 350 um down to 55 um, making it capable of examining samples several cm’s in size, down to just a few microns, and has a depth of several um’s (using Ar ion milling).

XPS is frequently used to determine elemental composition, identify potential contamination, and to check for successful chemical modification of materials. Beyond this, XPS is the only method capable of examining the detailed chemical environment of samples, e.g. identifying oxide formation and oxidation state, surface reactions, bonding environments (e.g. C-C, C=O, C-F).

Additional features of the Lancaster XPS system:

• 3D chemical depth profile mapping – A specialised Argon Gas Cluster Ion Source allows us to mill through samples down to a maximum depth of several microns. This enables 3D chemical mapping as a function of sample depth, and is typically used to test coating thickness, oxide coatings, layered semiconductor materials, battery materials, etc.
• Chemical imaging mode – chemical images up to 1 mm x 1 mm in size, with lateral resolution of 10 microns. Enables chemical mapping of surfaces, which is particularly useful to check for sample consistency, coating uniformity, and successful fabrication of device structures.
• Temperature programmed XPS – an integrated heater allows us to heat samples up to 800 ˚C during XPS analysis. This allows testing of temperature variation in samples, and to examine on-surface reactions.
• Air sensitive transport – dedicated sample ‘suitcase’ for transferring samples