Abstract: Aiming at the problem that the copper component in the neutralization gun of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was extremely easy to be contaminated and corroded, taking the Thermo Scientific NEXSA type X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy as an example, by studying the working mechanism and structural properties of the neutralization gun, and combining with the scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer to analyze the contamination on the surface of the corroded copper mesh, we proposed an improved method of electroplating inert metal film on the copper mesh. By comparing the surface contamination
 of copper and gold standard samples built in the instrument under the long-term test environment in the analysis chamber through the full spectrum scanning test, we determined the coating material and process, and conducted performance test of the improved neutralization gun. The results show that the gold electroplating on copper mesh does not affect the normal use of the neutralization gun, the improved neutralization gun still has a good neutralization effect on insulating samples, and the service life can be increased by more than 5 times of that before improvement, greatly improving its corrosion resistance performance.

Key words: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, neutralization gun, copper mesh, gold electroplating, corrosion resistance performance