X-Ray Photoelectron Diffraction. Possibilities of Surface Structural Analysis

Abstract

The current state of the X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) method and its applications to solid state surface chemistry are overviewed in a systematic way. The fundamentals of the method are presented along with a number of approaches to its description: plane wave and spherical wave single scattering approximation, spherical wave multiple scattering approximation, and direct scattering and s-photoelectron scattering approximation. The role of the initial and final states of the photoelectron wave is demonstrated, and variants of XPD with scanning over angles and energies are described. The photoelectron holography formalism is given. Application of photoelectron diffraction to surface studies of single crystals, epitaxial layers, and metal–gas adsorption systems with the adsorbate localized on the surface and in subsurface layers is considered. The available experimental data are discussed. Photoelectron diffraction calculations in single and multiple scattering approximations are assessed. The bibliography on XPD application to studies of various surface and adsorption systems is given.