Correlative Imaging and Surface Analysis Workflow

To gain a comprehensive understanding of your sample, you often must perform analysis on different instruments. Imaging a sample in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and acquiring the composition with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) might not reveal the surface chemistry that is crucial to understanding a material’s performance. Conversely, via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), you may know the surface chemistry of your sample but may need more high-resolution imagery to fully explain how the interplay between chemistry and structure is affecting the behavior of the material.

What if you could harness the combined powers of SEM and XPS? By using the Thermo Scientific CISA (Correlative Imaging and Surface Analysis) Workflow, you can combine datasets from our XPS and SEM instruments to help you gain further insight into your samples.

The CISA Workflow’s combination of XPS with SEM analysis enables you to accurately add quantitative chemical composition information of the surface to the structural information from the microscope imagery​. This is helpful when looking at how surfaces and interfaces are reacting,​ crucial when researching materials in a range of areas including batteries, polymers, catalysts, metals, coatings, and packaging.

When you use the CISA Workflow, images of your points of interest are used to tie the data from XPS to SEM and from SEM to XPS. This makes it simple to target the exact same positions on each sample when it is transferred between systems. You can also easily confirm the alignment of datasets through images, assuring that the data from each system was collected at the same position for greater accuracy.

The dynamic CISA Workflow offers reliable high performance and accuracy between two surface analysis techniques, putting you ahead of the research curve.

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