Magnesium Aluminate (MgAl2O4) by XPS

The XPS spectra of materials containing both magnesium and aluminum can exhibit a number of spectral artifacts when using a Mg Kα x-ray source. These artifacts are easily observed in XPS spectra of magnesium aluminate (MgAl2O4, also known as magnesium aluminum oxide), which are presented in this article. For example, the Al 2p peak is overlapped by the Mg Kα x-ray satellites from the Mg 2s peak, and the Mg Kα x-ray induced Mg KLL Auger peak. In addition, the Mg 2p peak can be overlapped by a C 1s x-ray ghost line caused by stray Al Kα x-ray radiation when using a dual Mg/Al x-ray source. Because of these artifacts, the amounts of Mg and Al in such samples should be quantified (when using a Mg Kα x-ray source) using the Mg 2s and Al 2s peaks, respectively, which are free of these artifacts.