ABSTRACT
The intensity I (the number of electrons reaching the detector per unit of time) of X-ray photoelectron lines can be used in making a quantitative analysis of the surface of solids. As a photoelectron passes through a solid it can experience elastic and inelastic interactions connected with the ionization or excitation of valence and inner electrons, as well as the excitation of bulk and surface plasmons. Mixtures of substances should not be used for graduation because the method is sensitive only to the surface layer: as a result line intensity changes when one of the components is more finely ground or when the surface is made up of particles of one component of the mixture. It is expedient to measure angular dependence of the line intensity of the element under investigation with respect to the line of an element evenly distributed in the surface layer.
