The Electron Spectroscopy Unit is part of the Surface Analysis facility, together with the unit of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), which focuses on advanced nanoscale surface mapping.

Our unit provides surface analytical data by means of high-energy excitation sources and an analyzer of the kinetic energies of electrons emitted from the studied surface. The instrumentation consists of an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) multifaceted system, with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) as the main technique, allowing a variety of operational modes and an access to a broad range of chemical and electronic characteristics.

XPS is a popular quantitative surface analysis technique that can easily resolve any element of the periodic table except for hydrogen. It provides unique analytic capabilities, mainly because of its reliable quantification of elemental concentrations (a ‘counter’ of atoms) and remarkable resolving power of elemental oxidation states.  In many cases, detailed information, down to atomic-scale sensitivity, can be derived about the vertical ordering of atoms within the top 10-15 nm of the inspected surface.