Role of surface effects in the inelastic background of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

We have derived a new deconvolution formula to obtain the original no-loss XPS spectra, the so-called source function, by taking surface effects into account. With this formula the primary XPS spectra of Au 4d and Au 4f are carried out from the experimental data. The primary excitation spectra are compared to the results derived by Tougaard's method in which surface effects were neglected. The present result is markedly different from Tougaard's result, which consists of a tail extending ∼50 eV below the peak. The result reveals that the influence of surface effects on the background removal of the spectra is considerably significant for the energy range ∼50 eV below the peak energy. It is also found that the large tail in Tougaard's results can be essentially removed when surface effects are considered.