This book covers a section of the field of polarized electron physics, which has experienced a particularly rapid growth over the past decade. It deals with spin-polarized electron spectroscopies applied to solid surfaces, with particular emphasis on the information that can be obtained by observing the spin of scattered or emitted electrons. Both magnetic and non-magnetic solids are investigated. Depending on the type of experiment and the range of electron energies involved mainly surface properties or mainly bulk properties are probed, though a sharp distinction cannot always be made.
The book addresses itself to researchers in the field, to graduate physics students, and to all those who would like to know more about this new branch of surface physics. The emphasis 1s on basic concepts for the description of polarized electrons at surfaces and on recent experimental results and their interpretation.