Testing samples in XPS

Internal Research Fellow Johanna Wessing uses ESTEC's X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) to evaluate materials for the Euro Materials Ageing Experiment aboard ISS. The XPS, as a surface science tool, allows engineers to analyse test material surface structure and composition to a depth of just two to four nanometres – a nanometre being a billionth of a metre, or, typically, a few dozen individual atoms.