A semiconductive ceramic member according to the present disclosure contains a plurality of aluminum oxide crystal grains, and a plurality of titanium oxide crystal grains. The total content of aluminum oxide and titanium oxide is 99% by mass or more per 100% by mass of all constituents. The content of the aluminum oxide is 86% by mass or more and 96% by mass or less and the content of the titanium oxide is 4% by mass or more and 14% by mass or less per 100% by mass of the aluminum oxide and the titanium oxide in total. A peak of TiO.sub.x (0<x<2) is present within a binding energy range of 456 eV to 462 eV (both inclusive) in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement. The semiconductive ceramic member further contains silicon, and the content of the silicon in terms of its oxide in a first region is larger than the content of the silicon in terms of its oxide in a grain boundary.

A semiconductive ceramic member according to the present disclosure contains a plurality of aluminum oxide crystal grains, and a plurality of titanium oxide crystal grains. The total content of aluminum oxide and titanium oxide is 99% by mass or more per 100% by mass of all constituents. The content of the aluminum oxide is 86% by mass or more and 96% by mass or less and the content of the titanium oxide is 4% by mass or more and 14% by mass or less per 100% by mass of the aluminum oxide and the titanium oxide in total. A peak of TiO.sub.x (0<x<2) is present within a binding energy range of 456 eV to 462 eV (both inclusive) in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement. The semiconductive ceramic member further contains silicon, and the content of the silicon in terms of its oxide in a first region is larger than the content of the silicon in terms of its oxide in a grain boundary.

A copper-clad laminate includes an insulating layer and a copper foil in contact with at least one surface of the insulating layer, in which the insulating layer contains a cured product of a resin composition containing a modified polyphenylene ether compound of which a terminal is modified with a substituent having a carbon-carbon unsaturated double bond, a chromium element amount on an exposed surface on which the insulating layer is exposed by an etching treatment of the copper-clad laminate with a copper chloride solution, measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is 7.5 at % or less with respect to a total element amount measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and a surface roughness of the exposed surface is 2.0 μm or less in terms of ten-point average roughness.

A copper-clad laminate includes an insulating layer and a copper foil in contact with at least one surface of the insulating layer, in which the insulating layer contains a cured product of a resin composition containing a modified polyphenylene ether compound of which a terminal is modified with a substituent having a carbon-carbon unsaturated double bond, a chromium element amount on an exposed surface on which the insulating layer is exposed by an etching treatment of the copper-clad laminate with a copper chloride solution, measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is 7.5 at % or less with respect to a total element amount measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and a surface roughness of the exposed surface is 2.0 μm or less in terms of ten-point average roughness.

An X-ray analyzer includes an X-ray source, a straight tube type multi-capillary, a flat plate spectroscopic crystal, a parallel/point focus type multi-capillary X-ray lens, and a Fresnel zone plate. A qualitative analysis is performed over an area on the sample, the flat plate spectroscopic crystal and the Fresnel zone plate are removed from the X-ray optical path, and X-rays are collected by the multi-capillary lens and the sample is irradiated. When analyzing the chemical morphology of an element, the multi-capillary lens retracts from the optical path, the source rotates, and the flat plate spectroscopic crystal and the Fresnel zone plate are inserted on the optical path. A narrow sample area is irradiated by the Fresnel zone plate with X-rays having energy extracted from the flat plate spectroscopic crystal. This makes it possible to carry out accurate qualitative analysis on the sample and perform detailed analysis of more minute parts.

An apparatus for inspecting a surface includes a housing and a probe. The housing includes a light source to direct light along a longitudinal axis and a shutter to selectively allow light to pass through to the probe. The probe includes a body portion and a head portion. The head portion of the probe includes a collector to detect photoelectrons emitted from the surface in response to light from the light source impinging on the surface. A proximal portion of the head portion moves relative to a distal portion of the head portion to allow for variations in angle relative to the surface.

An apparatus for inspecting a surface includes a housing and a probe. The housing includes a light source to direct light along a longitudinal axis and a shutter to selectively allow light to pass through to the probe. The probe includes a body portion and a head portion. The head portion of the probe includes a collector to detect photoelectrons emitted from the surface in response to light from the light source impinging on the surface. A proximal portion of the head portion moves relative to a distal portion of the head portion to allow for variations in angle relative to the surface.

Provided is a positive electrode active material for a lithium ion secondary battery having favorable cycle characteristics and high capacity. A covering layer containing aluminum and a covering layer containing magnesium are provided on a superficial portion of the positive electrode active material. The covering layer containing magnesium exists in a region closer to a particle surface than the covering layer containing aluminum is. The covering layer containing aluminum can be formed by a sol-gel method using an aluminum alkoxide. The covering layer containing magnesium can be formed as follows: magnesium and fluorine are mixed as a starting material and then subjected to heating after the sol-gel step, so that magnesium is segregated.

A thin-film deposition system deposits a thin-film on a wafer. A radiation source irradiates the wafer with excitation light. An emissions sensor detects an emission spectrum from the wafer responsive to the excitation light. A machine learning based analysis model analyzes the spectrum and detects contamination of the thin-film based on the spectrum.

A computer-implemented method is described for generating event-averaged and time-resolved spectra, from a plurality of time-resolved spectra of charged particles emitted from a surface (3) of a sample (2), at which surface (3) an event is repeated cyclically, the method comprising the steps of receiving (101), from the charged particle analyser (1), the plurality of time-resolved spectra covering a plurality of events, obtaining (102) at least one selected part (9, 10) of the series of time-resolved spectra, matching (103) the at least one selected part (9, 10) with other parts of the series of time-resolved spectra to find similar parts, and thereby determining points in time for other events in the plurality of events, and generating (104) the event-averaged and time-resolved spectra of the event based on the series of time-resolved charged particle energy spectra and the determined points in time.