Novel Materials Laboratory |
Department of Physics Department of Chemistry Division of Materials Science and Engineering |
Soft X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy |
In the x-ray emission experiment, a solid is illuminated with a monochromatic beam of x-rays. These excite core electrons from the system. The resulting core holes are filled by the radiative transition of valence band electrons, with the emission of a fluorescent x-ray photon. The energy of these emitted photons is then measured using a grating spectrometer. |
· hn = 50 ~ 1500 eV · Bulk sensitive (~ 1000 Å), so no need for large crystals, or clean ordered surfaces · Atomic and chemical specific · Strong dipole selection rules means the fluorescent spectrum reflects the occupied valence band partial density of states · Operational in external fields and (windowed) liquid environments |