Soft x-ray emission spectroscopy in the nineties

Soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (SXES) has been subject to a revived interest due to the new possibilities offered by the high brightness of the third generation synchrotron radiation sources and the corresponding high performance beamlines and instruments. The inherent ability of SXES to provide site and symmetry selective projections of the valence band electronic structure can be exploited for many problems, and additional elements of selectivity introduced by the well defined energy and polarization properties of the synchrotron beam can be used to obtain further detailed information. An overview is presented of recent advances in soft X-ray fluorescence studies of molecules and solids.