A review of ion-induced electron emission is presented which concentrates on the mechanisms relevant to imaging, analysis and processing of surfaces by ion beams. In this field of applications, the main interest in electron emission lies in kinetic emission by heavy, i.e. multi-electron (Z>2) ions of energy #<=#100 keV. The subjects are organized in. (orig.)255 refs.Available from TIB Hannover: RA 831(3098) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman