APPLICATION OF TOUGAARD BACKGROUND SUBTRACTION TO XPS SPECTRA OF PASSIVATED FE-17 CR

In order to examine the spectra of films formed during the polarizatio n of an Fe-17 Cr alloy in 0.5 m sulphuric acid, it is necessary to sep arate the overlapping spectral components of the film and substrate. T he procedure for peak separation and background subtraction as propose d by Hansen and Tougaard was followed and is described in detail for t he present case. On applying the procedure it was observed that the re sults obtained are sensitive to the value used for the film thickness in calculating the contribution from the substrate to the overall spec trum. Thus, the film thickness can be regarded as an outcome of the pr ocedure. The elastic XPS spectrum of the film remaining after peak sep aration and background subtraction was compared to that obtained after subtraction of a Shirley background followed by curve fitting of the substrate contribution.