I am currently trying to overlay a bunch of S 2p spectra and the doublet peaks due to spin orbit splitting is very annoying in a stacked figure. Normally if it's just one spectrum, I would definitely fit the doublets by their supposed peak area ratios and label them properly. But for a stack figure, I feel it makes it very confusing and too many peaks.
So I was thinking if it's acceptable for peer-review journal publication purposes, to only choose one of the doublet peaks CONSISTENTLY (either 2p 1/2 or 2p 3/2) and only plot that one. I believe I have seen some groups do this in published Li-S battery papers.
It is generally not acceptable to plot only one of the doublet peaks due to spin-orbit splitting in your XPS spectrum without clear justification. The spin-orbit splitting of the doublet peaks is an important characteristic of the element's XPS spectrum and provides information about the electronic structure of the element.
If you choose to plot only one of the doublet peaks, you will be omitting important information about the sample and potentially misleading readers. In addition, it may be difficult for readers to compare your results with other published XPS spectra of the same element that show both doublet peaks.
If you find the doublet peaks too distracting or confusing in a stacked figure, you may consider plotting each spectrum separately and labeling the peaks clearly, or using a different type of visualization to display your data.
Ultimately, it is important to be transparent and clear in your data presentation and to provide a complete and accurate representation of your experimental results.
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