Calculation of layer thickness on rough surfaces by polyhedral model

The XPS intensity data are sensitive to the surface topography of the sample; implicitly or explicitly, a geometric model is always involved. Samples with rough surfaces, covered by thin overlayers, commonly occur in practice. The rough surfaces can be modelled with a set of small polyhedra. If the surface can be inspected visually, the area ratio of the planes of the polyhedra at different angles can be estimated or, in case of regular structure, can be calculated exactly. The intensity originating from the various planes of the sample is weighted by this ratio, taking into account the projected areas corresponding to different effective thickness values. In the latest version of the XPS MultiQuant program, the correction factor set can be freely edited and calculations can be conveniently performed on any type of polyhedron-shaped samples. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.