Spectroscopic methods Auger-electron-spectroscopy

Further structural information is available from physical methods of surface analysis such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron or Auger electron spectroscopy (XPS), or secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and transmission or reflectance IR and UV/VIS spectroscopy. The application of both electroanalytical and surface spectroscopic methods has been thoroughly reviewed and appropriate methods are given in most of the references of this chapter. 

In situ methods permit the examination of the surface in its electrolytic environment with application of the electrode potential of choice. Usually they are favored for the study of surface layers. Spectroscopic methods working in the ultra high vacuum (UHV) are a valuable alternative. Their detailed information about the chemical composition of surface films makes them an almost inevitable tool for electrochemical research and corrosion studies. Methods like X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), UV Photoelectron Spectroscopy (UPS), Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) and the Ion Spectroscopies as Ion Scattering Spectroscopy (ISS) and Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) have been applied to metal surfaces to study corrosion and passivity. 

In the study of the surface phases of the Pt-Sn system, as well as of other binary systems, a variety of experimental methods are available. Surface spectroscopies based on ion or electron interaction with the surface provide composition information with a depth resolution that can go from a few atomic layers (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XPS and Auger electron spectroscopy, AES) to single atomic layer resolution. The latter can be obtained by low energy ion scattering (LEIS) a method which has been extensively used for the study ot the Pt-Sn system. Since surface spectroscopic methods are rather well known we will not review them in detail here. 

In order to obtain a fundamental understanding of oxide surfaces, well-ordered thin oxide films, grown in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) under well-controlled (clean) conditions, has turned out to be a successful approach ([8, 17, 38] and references therein). In contrast to many (insulating) bulk oxides, thin oxide films exhibit electrical and thermal conductivity sufficient for the application of surface sensitive imaging (e.g., STM) and spectroscopic methods (e.g., XPS Auger electron spectroscopy, AES and temperature-programmed desorption, TPD). 

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) are very useful analytical techniques to determine the electronic states of conducting polymers under different chemical environments and the quantitative chemical composition of metal oxides and peroxides. But these are ex situ spectroscopic methods, and the real compositions may differ from the measured ones. 

Given a method of preparing Mo organometallic compounds, the p decay transformation of Mo to Tc could be studied. The decay of Mo to Tc yields a nuclide with much lower recoil energy than that formed in the molybdenum (n, y ) process. However, this decay produces a cascade of Auger electrons see Auger Spectroscopy) which can cause bond disruption. These studies are difficult, because the technetium-99m product is produced at radiochemical tracer levels. Macroscopic quantities of products are not available for spectroscopic characterization. 

Hochella M. F., Jr. (1988) Auger electron and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. In Spectroscopic Methods in Mineralogy and Geology (ed. F. C. Hawthorne). Miner-alogical Society of America, Wadiington, DC, vol. 18, pp. 573-637. 

NEXAFS is a synchrotron-based spectroscopic tool routinely used as a complementary technique with XPS for surface characterizations. This method probes the adsorption of X-rays by the excitation of core (K-shell) electrons into unoccupied electronic states near the ionization limit. Subsequent emission of Auger electrons results in the formation of an NEXAFS electron yield the observed spectmm. Because the source of Auger electrons can extend only up to 10 nm and the spectral peak positions and intensities are directly related to the nature of unoccupied electronic states, NEXAFS spectroscopy provides an important tool for studying stmctural and chemical features of various surface thin films and coatings (Hemraj-Benny et al., 2006 Hahner, 2006). 

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