Core photoemission from graphene to silicene

Core-level photoemission has been and remains one of the most powerful spectroscopic techniques for studying the structure and properties of condensed matter. With the advent of high-resolution instrumentation, for both electron analyzers and photon sources, coupled to large accelerating machines such as synchrotrons, core photoemission spectroscopy (CPS) has revealed its great potential, notably in the study of surfaces and interfaces prepared in ultra-high vacuum. Through peak fitting procedures, CPS performed on graphene and its first Xene siblings (two-dimensional elemental artificial materials), namely, silicene, we will retrace remarkable discoveries, where core-level photoemission has played a major role.