Article

XPS is a great tool for studying the composition and chemical states of surfaces. However, samples often have contamination or buried layers that make it difficult to analyze the regions of interest. Monatomic argon, C60 cluster, and argon gas cluster (GCIB) ion beams are available on Physical Electronics XPS systems for sputtering away surface layers to expose areas of interest, and this article will compare and contrast their effects on samples to provide some guidance on which ion beam is best suited for analysis of organic, inorganic, or mixed materials.