X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic Studies of Certain Metals and Alloys Through the Solid/liquid Transition.

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Electron spectroscopy measurements, mainly by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), have been made for pure metals/semi-metals (Bi, In, Ga, Sn) and alloys (Bi-In, Au-Ga, Au-Ge, Au-In) through the solid-liquid transition. Particular attention was focused on changes in binding energies of core levels and spectral features of plasmon loss peaks, both by XPS and by EELS, peak shapes and Auger transitions. Where practical, spectral features of the valence bands were also compared. For the alloys, systematic trends associated with changes in composition were monitored. It was found that for the pure metals there was little or no change in binding energies of core levels suggesting that there was no change in the local order through the solid/liquid transition. These conclusions were supported by the EXAFS measurements for Sn. Changes in plasmon energies were observed solid/liquid but were smaller than predicted by simple theory. Measurements made on the alloys again confirm that there was little change solid/liquid. Changes in binding energies of the "d" states for Au in various alloys were observed. This change in energy was associated with charge transfer from the high valence component.