Traditional X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is considered one of the workhorse instruments of many research facilities focusing on surface chemical analysis. This tool typically generates spectroscopic data on surface composition and chemistry from areas defined by spot sizes 100’s of micrometers in diameter to many millimeters. Perhaps a less employed tool is imaging mode XPS (iXPS), which has a much higher spatial resolution of 3 µm – 5 µm. Spectroscopy can be extracted from stacks of images, albeit at the expense energy resolution. Recent work in our laboratories has focused on employing iXPS to better understand chemical phenomena at the surface of materials that are localized to 10’s of micrometers or less. The focus of the presentation will be two-fold. The first section will involve discussing challenges associated with applying the iXPS, including development of tools to manipulate the large hyperspectral image stacks generated by the technique and addressing phenomena such as mechanically and magnetically induced drift. In the second section, we will discuss some recent successes that we have had applying iXPS to three different questions which required enhanced spatial resolution <i>and</i> surface (top 10 nm or less) chemical analysis. These will include characterizing 1) dispersion quality of MWCNT in a differentially charging carbon composite, 2) chemical transformations of MoS<sub>2</sub> before and after laser thinning, and 3) impact of heat treatments on black phosphorous’s surface chemistry and optical properties.

Applying imaging XPS towards understanding surface phenomena of 2D-like and nano-material structures

256th National Meeting (2018)

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