XPS Investigations of Ni-Fe Alloy and Fe Films

Abstract

This paper reports the results of experimental investigations into the chemical shifts of Fe 2p, Ni 2p and N 1s in Ni-Fe alloy and Fe films. Through XPS analysis on Ni-Fe film composition, it is known that the binding energy of Fe 0 2p increases and the satellite around 859 eV shifts toward lower binding energy with an increasing Ni fraction, instead of a Ni core level shift. Additionally, Fe species are confirmed to be more preferentially oxidized than those of Ni in the Ni-Fe alloy surface. Furthermore, an observed core level shift of N 1s infers that N in iron films formed in nitrogen atmosphere chemically reacts with Fe species even though these films were not made up of iron nitrides.