Advanced XPS characterization: XPS-based multi-technique analyses for comprehensive understanding of functional materials

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has achieved maturity as an analytical technique in that it is a ubiquitous tool in the materials community, however as made apparent by recent reviews highlighting it’s misuse as a means of chemical deduction, it is a practice which is greatly misunderstood even in its simplest form. Advanced XPS techniques, or a combination of XPS and a complementary surficial probe may elicit auxiliary information outside of the scope of the standard sphere of appreciation. This review aims to bring to the attention of the general materials audience a landscape of some atypical applications of lab-based XPS and combinatorial approaches of related surface analysis, such as ion scattering, ultraviolet photoelectron, electron energy loss and auger emission spectroscopies found on many lab-based instrument set-ups.