Ambient- and near-ambient-pressure XPS (APXPS and NAP-XPS) are rapidly evolving analytical techniques for the characterisation of materials and physicochemical processes under control of environmental conditions. This is a fast-growing community learning to use complex novel instruments that have literally revolutionised the application of XPS in fundamental and applied science.
All XPS facility and instrument operators in the community face similar practical challenges, be it for example the minimisation of cross-contamination between samples, understanding the influence of the gas phase on the detected surface signals, practical experience with newly commissioned instruments, or simply technical aspects such as maintaining the differential pumping systems of ambient pressure instruments.
Since 2014 the global community therefore gathers every December for the annual APXPS workshop. At the 2018 meeting it was decided to create a discussion list to facilitate knowledge and best practice exchange between meetings. The list also permits reporting of news, conference announcements and advertising of jobs and academic posts related to XPS.