Understanding the nature of core hole screening is fundamental for interpretation of the results of electron spectroscopies of metals and alloys. The idea of complete screening of the core hole explains a large amount of XPS and high resolution Auger (XAES) data. Here, we address the question of the extent to which the complete screening model can be used to extract quantitative information about the electronic structure of metals and their alloys from measured Auger energies. Starting from general considerations, analysis of Auger parameter data illuminates the screening process throughout the 4d and 5d series, including the consequences of closing the d valence shell; the observed systematics are faithfully reproduced, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, in the 3d series as well; and parameters of a simple model consistent with complete screening which are extracted from the Auger parameter data are applicable to analysis of XPS and Auger shifts in alloys. Similar treatment of core level Auger shift data of the noble metal component in bimetallic alloys indicates the relation between the measured shifts, the relative Fermi energy (a usually unknown quantity involved in binding energy shifts) and the charge transfer. Consideration of various alloys (AuPd, CuPd, AgPd, AuCu, AuAg, and CuPt) implies a very small charge transfer and a unique determination of the relative Fermi energy. Use of noble metals as "impurities" in trimetallic alloys bears out these conclusions regarding charge transfer and Fermi energies. © 1995.72C199203Lang, Williams, (1977) Phys. Rev. B, 16, p. 2408Kleiman, X-ray excited Auger studies of metals and alloys (1982) Applications of Surface Science, 11-12, p. 730Mårtensson, Johansson, Valence-Band and Core-Level Satellites in Nickel and Related Elements (1980) Physical Review Letters, 45, p. 482Måtensson, Nyholm, Johansson, Chemical-Shift Effects and Origin of the Pd 3d Core-Level Satellite in CuPd Alloys (1980) Physical Review Letters, 45, p. 754Lang, Williams, (1979) Phys. Rev. B, 20, p. 1369Mårtensson, Hedegård, Johansson, Auger Energy Shifts for Metallic Elements (1984) Physica Scripta, 29, p. 154Johansson, Mårtensson, (1980) Phys. Rev. B, 21, p. 4427Williams, Lang, (1978) Phys. Rev. Lett., 40, p. 954Kleiman, Landers, de Castro, Nascente, (1991) Phys. Rev. B, 44, p. 3383Kleiman, Landers, de Castro, Nascente, L3M4,5M4,5 Auger transitions and valence hole screening of the 4d metals (1992) Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, 10, p. 2839Kleiman, Landers, Nascente, de Castro, (1992) Phys. Rev. B, 46, p. 4405Kleiman, Landers, Nascente, de Castro, L3M4,5M4,5 Auger transitions and screening mechanisms in the 4d metals (1993) Surface Science, 287-288, p. 798Kleiman, Landers, de Castro, Rogers, (1991) Phys. Rev. B, 44, p. 8529Landers, de Castro, Kleiman, (1994) J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom., 68, p. 145Kleiman, de Castro, Rogers, Sundaram, (1982) Solid State Commun., 43, p. 257Rogers, Sundaram, Kleiman, de Castro, Douglas, Peterlevitz, (1982) J. Phys. F, 12, p. 2097Hohenberg, Kohn, Inhomogeneous Electron Gas (1964) Physical Review, 136, p. B 864Kohn, Sham, Self-Consistent Equations Including Exchange and Correlation Effects (1965) Physical Review, 140, p. A 113Janak, (1978) Phys. Rev. Phys. Rev. B, 18, p. 7165Thomas, Weightman, Valence electronic structure of AuZn and AuMg alloys derived from a new way of analyzing Auger-parameter shifts (1986) Physical Review B, 33, p. 5406Winter, Durham, Temmerman, Stocks, (1986) Phys. Rev. B, 33, p. 2370Nascente, de Castro, Landers, Kleiman, (1991) Phys. Rev. B, 43, p. 4659