Plutonium #
Orbitals and Energies #
Note – these are listed in BINDING ENERGY
Pu 4f ≈ 422 eV
Pu 4d ≈ 800 eV
Pu 5p ≈ 215 eV
Pu 5d ≈ 105 eV
Pu 6p ≈ 18 eV
Common Overlaps for Pu 4f #
Zr 3s – W 4p – Dy 4s – Pb 4d – Ca 2s – Ho 4s – Hf 4p – Ga LMM (Al Ka X-rays)
Theory and Background #
There are not many studies of polonium to date, however Courteix et al, have shown that Pu 4f exhibits significant satellite structure to higher binding energy from the main peaks.[1]
Experimental Advice #
Plutonium oxide is known to reduce drastically under ion bombardment to form suboxides.[1]
Data Analysis Guidance #
Roussel and Nelson report Pu 4f peaks can be fit with an asymmetric LF(0.42, 1.25, 110, 195) function for metal, and accompanying satellite peak LF(0.43, 0.75, 50, 233) + LF(1, 643) for the oxide. [2]
References #
1
Courteix, D., et al. “XPS study of plutonium oxides.” Solid state communications 39.2 (1981): 209-213.
2
Roussel, Paul, and Art J. Nelson. “Quantitative XPS of plutonium: Evaluation of the Pu4f peak shape, relative sensitivity factors and estimated detection limits.” Surface and Interface Analysis 54.7 (2022): 710-723.
