As far as I know, the XPS can only measure thickness up to 10 nm. Is there any possibility, I can get shifting in the XPS spectra if I want to study the interface between ITO/organic layer and the thickness of my organic layer is (>50nm)?
Argon ion etch your sample through the layers . XPS deals with composition and oxidation state of the top 5 - 10 atomic layers. It doesn't measure thickness as your question appears to imply.
Hello Adilah
Not sure if I understand your question correctly. The information depth of the XPS signal is only about 5-10nm. That does not mean that samples of different thickness much larger than this must have identical core level shifts. E.g. band bending at the interface can lead to gradual changes in position with thickness. In thicker layers you might experience charging issues in your sample, and in organic layers the molecule orientation might change as a function of thickness. All these effects could lead to small shifts in XPS spectra of different sample thickness.
There is always two reasons for your XPS shift.
1. Your sample connected to ground not very good, too much surface charge induce the whole spectral shift. you can check the femi level or cut-off.
2. the XPS depth depend on material density, base on my experiences, some organic/polymer sample close 50nm since there is lots of pin hole in organic layer.
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