Event
PHI Webinar: Ion Gun Options and Capabilities on Physical Electronics XPS Systems
The recording of this live webinar is now available below:
PHI Webinar: Ion Gun Options and Capabilities on Physical Electronics XPS Systems - REGISTER HERE
WHEN: January 30th, 2020 10:00 AM (CST)
WHO: Dr. Ben Schmidt, Staff Scientist Physical Electronics, USA
WHAT: Ion Gun Options and Capabilities on Physical Electronics XPS Systems
XPS analysis typically provides elemental and chemical state information from the top few nanometers of a material surface. However, many materials of interest have buried layers and interfaces that are deeper than this surface region. Non-destructive methods of probing deeper into a sample, such as using alternative X-ray sources with different photon energies and subsequent photoelectron escape depths, or changing the sample-analyzer angle for angle-dependent analysis, have depth limitations. An alternative method is to use an ion beam to sputter away surface layers and expose fresh surfaces in deeper layers for analysis.
Typically, the goal of ion beam sputtering is to remove surface layers and reach features of interest while maintaining useful elemental and chemical state information under reasonable sputter and data acquisition times. Monoatomic argon ion beams have long been used for surface cleaning and sputter depth profiling. However, many materials exhibit ion-induced damage and loss of chemical state information with these ion species. Cluster ion beams composed of C60 or argon were developed to address these limitations for ion-beam sensitive materials. Novel materials often contain multiple organic and inorganic components, which presents challenges when choosing the appropriate ion beam species and sputter conditions.
In this webinar, three ion beam options - monoatomic argon, C60 ¬cluster, and argon gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) - available on XPS systems from Physical Electronics will be discussed. We will introduce general operation of each gun and discuss capabilities and limitations for analysis of inorganic, organic, and mixed materials. Several side-by-side examples will illustrate how sputter rates, interface resolution, chemical state information, and preferential sputtering can affect the analysis. Recommendations will be presented on how to choose the correct ion gun for your application and how combinations of ion beams can be used to optimize surface analysis experiments.