Secondary electron (SE) yield, [S, is a very sensitive surface property. The values of S often are not consistent for even identical materials. The influence of surface changes on the SE yield was investigated experimentally in this article. Argon ion sputtering was used to remove the contamination from the surface. Surface composition was monitored by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and surface topography was scanned by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) before and after every sputtering. It was found that argon sputtering can remove contamination and roughen the surface. An "equivalent work function" is presented in this thesis to establish the relationship between SE yield and surface properties. Argon ion sputtering of 1.5keV leads to a significant increase of so called "work function" (from 3.7 eV to 6.0 eV), and a decrease of SE yield (from 2.01 to 1.54). These results provided a new insight into the influence of surface changes on the SE emission. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.