Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis or x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are key techniques for looking at the surface of composite reinforcement fibers.  These techniques provide a total elemental analysis, except for hydrogen and helium, of the top 10-200 angstroms of any solid surface that can be made vacuum stable.  The method is regarded as the most readily interpretable, and the most informative with regard to chemical information.  However, for all you demolition folk, the technique is nondestructive, surface sensitive, and relatively simple.  The main draw back is the expensive instrumentation required to perform the tests.
       The information in a typical XPS spectrum is enormous.  There are various hierarchies of spectral interpretation, including simple elemental analysis, detailed considerations of chemical shifts, and chemical bonding nature in the surface region, and loss or relaxation structures that provide further information on the chemical nature of the surface.  Below is a table of technique properties for each of the methods mentioned in this area of surface analysis techniques.
 

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