Application of factor analysis in electron spectrometry (AES, XPS) for materials science

Electron spectroscopic methods as X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) and Auger electron spectrometry (AES) are well established in the field of thin-film and surface analysis. In the measured spectral information, always also chemical information on the sample is contained. It is discussed that often chemometrical methods are the only way to extract such (hidden) information from the measured data sets. We demonstrate for AES and XPS measurements, how factor analysis (FA) can help to derive chemical information at Ti-based material developed for body implants. An introduction to the methodology is given, and challenges and restrictions are discussed.