What's in a Name? “ESCA” or “XPS”? A Discussion of Comments Made by Kai Siegbahn More Than Four Decades Ago Regarding the Name of the Technique
ABSTRACT In an interview in 1982, which was 1 year after he shared the Nobel Prize, Kai Siegbahn was asked about his opinion regarding the name of the technique he had developed. Siegbahn had named it “electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis” (ESCA), but the community was choosing to call it “X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy” (XPS). Now, more than 40 years later, 20 XPS experts have given their opinions on Siegbahn's response and the name of the technique. Some of these participants have been doing XPS for many years and have provided a historical perspective on this issue. While there is no call in these comments for the community to return to “ESCA”—“XPS” is regarded as a more than an adequate name, and insisting on a name change at this point in time would probably only create confusion. However, some of the participants of this study still consider “ESCA” to be an acceptable way to refer to the technique, especially when it is used in a chemical context.
Authors
- Joshua W. Pinder
- Jeff Terry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7881-3667)
- L. Kövér (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5368-3691)
- William M. Skinner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9606-023X)
- Matthew R. Linford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0460-041X)
- David G. Castner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6125-706X)
- David Morgan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6571-5731)
- John T. Grant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5243-4095)
- Grzegorz Greczyński (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4898-5115)
- A.E. Hughés
- George H. Major (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6484-8049)
- C. J. Powell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8990-2286)
- Peter M. A. Sherwood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6487-0724)
- Sarah L. Harmer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5627-5500)
- J. E. Castle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2949-6076)
- Christopher D. Easton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1981-3779)
- Mark A. Isaacs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0335-4272)
- Kara J. Stowers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1119-5264)
- Donald R. Baer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0875-5961)
- Mark C. Biesinger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5714-4668)
- Braxton Kulbacki
Institutions
- Brigham Young University (US)
- Linköping University (SE)
- Western University (CA)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (US)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US)
- Deakin University (AU)
- Flinders University (AU)
- University of South Australia (AU)
- Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
- HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research (HU)
- University of Washington (US)
- Clearwater Christian College (US)
- University of Surrey (GB)
- Research Complex at Harwell (GB)
- Institute of Biomedical Problems (RU)
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals (AU)
- Process Instruments (United States) (US)
- Thinfilm (Sweden) (SE)
- Australian Resources Research Centre (AU)
- Clearwater Group (United States) (US)
- Material Measurement Laboratory (US)
- CSIRO Manufacturing (AU)
- University College London (GB)
- Texas Instruments (United States) (US)
- Cardiff University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Surface and Interface Analysis
- Published
- 2025-03-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.7392
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.64
Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council