Welcome to HarwellXPS Guru – a doorway to XPS enlightenment.

So what is this site?

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), is a powerful tool for the study of surfaces, however data interpretation can be difficult without a solid prior knowledge.

To help in such analysis, we decided to create this knowledge base to gather relevant information from across the web, journal articles and to write down our own experiences to help all users, regardless of experience.

What will I find here?

Despite there being some excellent resources currently, there equally have been many sites dealing with XPS and surface analysis in general which have come and gone over the years, or are now unmaintained and out of date, with links and references therein superseded.

Here we aim not to write a textbook account of XPS and how to do it, but instead give useful tips, discuss potential problems with certain elements during XPS analysis, give tips on data acquisition, introduce ancillary techniques and link to relevant papers and resources where the community can find more information.

Why Guru?

guru [noun]

Definition of guru

1: a personal religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism

2 a: a teacher and especially intellectual guide in matters of fundamental concern

b: a person with knowledge or expertise

It is the very definitions in a and b which this site aims to achieve