Secondary electron emission of surfaces exposed to oscillating electromagnetic field is at the origin of the multipacting effect that could severely perturb the operation of particle accelerators. This contribution tries to illustrate by measurement results, the origin of the secondary electron emission as well as the main reasons for the discrepancies between technical materials and pure metals. The variation of the secondary electron yield with the incident electron energy will be discussed for various types of technical surfaces. The influence of a gas condensation on these surfaces will also be addressed in the context of the LHC accelerator. Various treatments aiming at a permanent reduction of the secondary electron yield will be presented. A special attention will be paid to the decrease of the secondary electron yield under electron or photon impact and to its possible beneficial consequences for the processing of devices prone to multipacting
