The same chemical state of carbon gives rise to two peaks in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Chemical state analysis in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) relies on assigning well-defined binding energy values to core level electrons originating from atoms in particular bonding configurations. Here, we present direct evidence for the violation of this paradigm. It is shown that the C 1s peak due to C–C/C–H bonded atoms from adventitious carbon (AdC) layers accumulating on Al and Au foils splits into two distinctly different contributions, as a result of vacuum level alignment at the AdC/foil interface. The phenomenon is observed while simultaneously recording the spectrum from two metal foils in electric contact with each other. This finding exposes fundamental problems with the reliability of reported XPS data as C 1s peak of AdC is routinely used for binding energy scale referencing. The use of adventitious carbon in XPS should thus be discontinued as it leads to nonsense results. Consequently, ISO and ASTM charge referencing guides need to be rewritten.

KL double core hole pre-edge states of HCl

The formation of double core hole pre-edge states of the form 1s−12p−1(1,3P)σ*,n for HCl, located on the binding energy scale as deep as 3 keV, has been investigated by means of a high resolution single channel electron spectroscopy technique recently developed for the hard X-ray region.

X-RAY EMISSION AND ABSORPTION SPECTRA AND ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF MgB2

Measurements of X-ray emission and absorption of the constituents of MgB 2 are presented. The results obtained are in good agreement with calculated X-ray spectra, with dipole matrix elements taken into account. The comparison of X-ray emission spectra of graphite, AlB 2, and MgB 2 in the binding energy scale supports the idea of charge transfer from σ to π bands, which creates holes at the top of the bonding σ bands and drives the high-Tc superconductivity in MgB 2.