Electronic spectroscopy techniques

Fein, A.P. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A. in press)(3). Electronic structure measurements of occupied states are typically made with UPS, while unoccupied states are probed by IPS (49). EELS probes both filled and unfilled states simultaneously, and is therefore used in conjunction with either UPS or IPS to complete a band structure determination (44,49). A new electronic spectroscopy technique, Field Emission Scanning Auger Microscopy (50), utilizes STM-like technology to effect highly localized (c.a. 1 /im) Auger electron spectroscopy. The local electronic information afforded by STM is a valuable complement to these other techniques, and STM is the only one of these methods that may be applied to in situ investigations in condensed media. 

Over the past 10 years a multitude of new techniques has been developed to permit characterization of catalyst surfaces on the atomic scale. Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) can determine the atomic surface structure of the topmost layer of the clean catalyst or of the adsorbed intermediate (7). Auger electron spectroscopy (2) (AES) and other electron spectroscopy techniques (X-ray photoelectron, ultraviolet photoelectron, electron loss spectroscopies, etc.) can be used to determine the chemical composition of the surface with the sensitivity of 1% of a monolayer (approximately 1013 atoms/cm2). In addition to qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis of the surface layer, electron spectroscopy can also be utilized to determine the valency of surface atoms and the nature of the surface chemical bond. These are static techniques, but by using a suitable apparatus, which will be described later, one can monitor the atomic structure and composition during catalytic reactions at low pressures (< 10-4 Torr). As a result, we can determine reaction rates and product distributions in catalytic surface reactions as a function of surface structure and surface chemical composition. These relations permit the exploration of the mechanistic details of catalysis on the molecular level to optimize catalyst preparation and to build new catalyst systems by employing the knowledge gained. 

First we study the surface structure and chemisorption characteristics of crystals cut along different crystallographic orientations. Then a well-chosen chemical reaction is studied at low pressure to establish correlations between reactivity and surface structure and composition. Below 10 4 Torr the surface can be monitored continuously during the reaction with various electron spectroscopy techniques. Then the same catalytic reaction is studied at high pressures (1-100 atm) and the pressure dependence of the reaction rate is determined using the same sample over the nine orders of magnitude range. Finally, the rates and product distributions that were determined at... 

Electron spectroscopy techniques Appearance potential spectroscopy (APS)... 

Section 21G). However, dedicated instruments and instruments combined with other electron spectroscopy techniques (XPS. AES) are available commercially. Typically, the resolution of EELS instruments is > 10 cm , which is low compared to IR and Raman instruments but quite suitable for identifying and characterizing surface species. 

There are several types of electron spectroscopy techniques, each differing in their irradiation sources. The one most important to coatings research, XPS (or electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis [ESCA]), uses monochromatic x-rays. XPS can identify elements (except hydrogen and helium) located in the top 1 to 2 Nm of a surface [2, 26, 33], It can also yield some information about oxidation states because the binding energy of an electron is somewhat affected by the atoms around... 

P. Echlin, ed., Analysis of Organic and Biological Surfaces, Wiley, New York, 1984. C. S. Fadley, in Electron Spectroscopy, Theory, Techniques, and Applications, Vol. 2, C. R. Brundle and A. D. Baker, eds., Pergamon, New York, 1978. 

Electrons are extremely usefiil as surface probes because the distances that they travel within a solid before scattering are rather short. This implies that any electrons that are created deep within a sample do not escape into vacuum. Any technique that relies on measurements of low-energy electrons emitted from a solid therefore provides infonuation from just the outenuost few atomic layers. Because of this inlierent surface sensitivity, the various electron spectroscopies are probably the most usefid and popular teclmiques in surface science. 

Richardson N V and Bradshaw A M 1981 Electron Spectroscopy Theory, Techniques and Applications vol 4, ed C R Brundle and A D Baker (London Academic)... 

Transient species, existing for periods of time of the order of a microsecond (lO s) or a nanosecond (10 s), may be produced by photolysis using far-ultraviolet radiation. Electronic spectroscopy is one of the most sensitive methods for detecting such species, whether they are produced in the solid, liquid or gas phase, but a special technique, that of flash photolysis devised by Norrish and Porter in 1949, is necessary. 

It is important to realize that electronic spectroscopy provides the fifth method, for heteronuclear diatomic molecules, of obtaining the intemuclear distance in the ground electronic state. The other four arise through the techniques of rotational spectroscopy (microwave, millimetre wave or far-infrared, and Raman) and vibration-rotation spectroscopy (infrared and Raman). In homonuclear diatomics, only the Raman techniques may be used. However, if the molecule is short-lived, as is the case, for example, with CuH and C2, electronic spectroscopy, because of its high sensitivity, is often the only means of determining the ground state intemuclear distance. 

Other techniques in which incident photons excite the surface to produce detected electrons are also Hsted in Table 1. X-ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (xps), which is also known as electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (esca), is based on the use of x-rays which stimulate atomic core level electron ejection for elemental composition information. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (ups) is similar but uses ultraviolet photons instead of x-rays to probe atomic valence level electrons. Photons are used to stimulate desorption of ions in photon stimulated ion angular distribution (psd). Inverse photoemission (ip) occurs when electrons incident on a surface result in photon emission which is then detected. 

Analysis of Surface Elemental Composition. A very important class of surface analysis methods derives from the desire to understand what elements reside at the surface or in the near-surface region of a material. The most common techniques used for deterrnination of elemental composition are the electron spectroscopies in which electrons or x-rays are used to stimulate either electron or x-ray emission from the atoms in the surface (or near-surface region) of the sample. These electrons or x-rays are emitted with energies characteristic of the energy levels of the atoms from which they came, and therefore, contain elemental information about the surface. Only the most important electron spectroscopies will be discussed here, although an array of techniques based on either the excitation of surfaces with or the collection of electrons from the surface have been developed for the elucidation of specific information about surfaces and interfaces. 

X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (xps) and Auger electron spectroscopy (aes) are related techniques (19) that are initiated with the same fundamental event, the stimulated ejection of an electron from a surface. The fundamental aspects of these techniques will be discussed separately, but since the instmmental needs required to perform such methods are similar, xps and aes instmmentation will be discussed together. 

One other very important attribute of photoemitted electrons is the dependence of their kinetic energy on chemical environment of the atom from which they originate. This feature of the photoemission process is called the chemical shift of and is the basis for chemical information about the sample. In fact, this feature of the xps experiment, first observed by Siegbahn in 1958 for a copper oxide ovedayer on a copper surface, led to his original nomenclature for this technique of electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis or esca. 

The principal techniques for determining the microstmcture of phenoHc resins include mass spectroscopy, proton, and C-nmr spectroscopy, as well as gc, Ic, and gpc. The softening and curing processes of phenoHc resins are effectively studied by using thermal and mechanical techniques, such as tga, dsc, and dynamic mechanical analysis (dma). Infrared (ir) and electron spectroscopy are also employed. 

Instrumental Methods for Bulk Samples. With bulk fiber samples, or samples of materials containing significant amounts of asbestos fibers, a number of other instmmental analytical methods can be used for the identification of asbestos fibers. In principle, any instmmental method that enables the elemental characterization of minerals can be used to identify a particular type of asbestos fiber. Among such methods, x-ray fluorescence (xrf) and x-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (xps) offer convenient identification methods, usually from the ratio of the various metal cations to the siUcon content. The x-ray diffraction technique (xrd) also offers a powerfiil means of identifying the various types of asbestos fibers, as well as the nature of other minerals associated with the fibers (9). 

---