Surface characterization using metastable impact electron spectroscopy of adsorbed xenon

In contrast to ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), photoemission of adsorbed xenon (PAX) can be used for quantitative analysis of solid surfaces. In this paper, it is shown that PAX yields ambiguous results when the Xe features overlap with the substrate signals. On the other hand, with metastable impact electron spectroscopy (MIES) of adsorbed xenon (MAX), the substrate signals are completely quenched, and only the Xe features appear due to the high surface sensitivity of MIES. MAX, therefore, can provide more accurate information than PAX with respect to binding energies, energy positions, and the widths of the Xe 5p states. Several examples are given to show that MAX can be informative for the quantitative characterizations of uniform and nonuniform surfaces, illustrating that, in contrast to MIES, MAX can be used on metals as well as wide band gap materials.