This article describes the principles and applications of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). It provides information on the instrumentation typically used in the AES, including an electron gun, an electron spectrometer, a secondary electron detector, and an ion gun. The article also describes experimental methods and limitations of the AES, including elemental detection sensitivity, electron beam artifacts, sample charging, spectral peak overlap, high vapor pressure samples, and sputtering artifacts.

This article provides a detailed account of the principles, instrumentation,and applications of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a technique used for elemental and compositional analysis of surfaces and thin films. It...