I have a gold substrate, which is fabricated with a TiO2 thin film. I have some organic solid impurities on this surface. The impurity contains C, H, O, N, and S elements. However, the mass of the impurity is 200 ng (maximum). How can I qualitatively characterize the presence of this impurity? Is XPS the only way?
You can use the CHNSO analyser which may be available in your chemistry department. but the quantity required may be slight large.
You can use the CHNSO analyser which may be available in your chemistry department. but the quantity required may be slight large.
You could try ICP-MS. This technique should be able to detect as low as p.p.b. concentrations.
This mostly depends on how thick your sample is. If it is thick (> 10um) and you only want to know how impurities are dispersed on the surface, SEM elemental mapping gives you a good idea and would be a cheaper option. XPS depth profile would provide you with bulk composition if you care about the bulk. XPS survey on the surface would tell you how many impurities there are in the surface. If your sample is not very reactive, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) also would be a good choice.
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