Surface analysis by means of photoemission and other photon‐stimulated processes

In the decades after World War 11, there was an explosion of fundamental research in solids and practical applications thereof. Although surfaces were not ignored in this work, until recently they were not strongly emphasized. In the last few years there has been a growing emphasis on the study of surfaces and related interfaces. There are several reasons for hs. First, as knowledge regarding the bulk properties of solids became increasingly complete, it became more and more evident how little was known about the surfaces. Thus, the study of surfaces is an exciting new frontier of scientific knowledge. Secondly, the development of devices and processes that depend on surfaces has been increasingly hindered by the lack of knowledge about surfaces, interfaces, and interactions that take place on surfaces. As a result, new techniques for experimental studies of surfaces have recently been developed.^1,2 These show great promise for allowing examination of surfaces and interfaces on a microscopic and even atomic level, and for the gathering of detded information impossible to obtain in the past. Finally, theoretical methods³ are being rapidly developed, which provide increasingly detailed insight into surfaces and interactions on surfaces.