On the relationship between total electron photoyield and X-ray absorption coefficient

We have tested the hypotheses that the total electron photoyield and X-ray absorption coefficient are simply related and that the drain current method can then be reliably used to derive absorption coefficients. By comparing gold photocurrent measurements taken at the Daresbury Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) with experimentally derived linear absorption coefficients in the same energy band, we find that the expected relationship is accurate over the range 2200–3500 eV to a precision of a few percent.