Spectral fit refinement in XPS analysis technique and its practical applications

The paper presents an original technique for quantitative analysis of the chemical composition from photoelectron lines obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Despite the simplicity, a proposed algorithm of spectral fit refinement allows one to control the fitting accuracy and to minimize the errors in determining the concentrations of chemical compounds. An obvious advantage of the iterative approach is the automatic convergence to the true spectrum fit form under correct input assumptions and conditions. The validity of the refinement technique is proved by the results of its application in the study of the chemical composition of three types of solid-state structures of nanoelectronics and spintronics. The error decrease in determining the concentration provides revealing new physicochemical features of the phase formation under various methods and parameters of the creation of structures. The discovered dependences of magnetic, electrical and optoelectronic properties on the local composition of nanosystems make it possible to formulate scientifically grounded principles of their development. Due to its simplicity and versatility, the spectral fit refinement technique can be extended to other experimental methods, where mathematical processing of spectral data is required.