The retarding field analyser (RFA) consists of a series of concentric hemispherical grids. The sample is struck by a beam of electrons, and some electrons are re-emitted by the sample and travel towards the grids. The first grid is usually grounded. The next grid has a voltage -V applied, so that any electrons higher in energy than eV (where e is the charge of the electron) can pass through the grid. Electrons lower than this energy are reflected back to the sample or the first (grounded) grid. There are usually more grids for reasons that will not be entered into here. The high energy electrons are detected and form the signal from the RFA. The detector is usually a phosphor screen and thus light will be emitted wherever the electrons strike the screen. Using this method LEED patterns can be observed. The RFA has a much larger solid angle over which electrons may be detected (up to 2 Pi steradians) than the CMA or CHA. However, as it collects electrons above a certain energy unlike the CMA or CHA which collect electrons within a range of energies, the RFA suffers from greater noise.

By detecting the current to ground instead of using a phosphor screen, the RFA can be used as a detector for AES. Indeed, this is how the first AES spectra were acquired. However, the spectra suffer from a poor signal to noise ratio.