Determining the elemental composition of surfaces is an essential
measurement in characterizing solid surfaces. At present, many ap-
proaches may be applied for measuring the elemental and molecular
composition of a surface. Each method has particular strengths and
limitations that often are directly connected to the physical processes
involved. Typically, atoms and molecules on the surface and in the near
surface region may be excited by photons, electrons, ions, or neutrals,
and the detected particles are emitted, ejected, or scattered ions or
electrons. The purpose of this book is to bring together a discussion of
the surface compositional analysis that depends on detecting scattered
or sputtered ions, and the methods emphasized are those where
instruments are commercially available for carrying out the analysis.
For each topic treated, the physical principles, instrumentation,
qualitative analysis, artifacts, quantitative analysis, applications,
opportunities, and limita- tions are discussed. The first chapter
provides an overview of the role of elemental composition in surface
science; compositional depth profiling; stimulation by an electric
field, electrons, neutrals, or photons and detection of ions; and then
stimulation by ions, and detection of ions, electrons, photons, or
neutrals.