DETERMINATION OF ACCURACY OF BINDING-ENERGIES MEASURED BY X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROMETER WITHOUT RETARDING-FIELD

In X-ray photoelectron spectrometry where a retarding potential is not used, the relativistic mass increase of the photoelectrons with energy has to be taken into account1. By measuring a specific photoelectron energy with the sample set at various potentials with respect to the spectrometer entrance slit the rest energy EO can be determined. The mean value of EO obtained in the course of an extended series of measurements is within 1 % of the literature value. In addition the experimental results provide information about the accuracy of the quantity (hv - Eb - W), a term characteristic for XPS-measurements. For the experiments described in this paper the σ-limit was ±0.1 eV. © 1978.