We have developed an x‐ray photoelectron spectrometer system which combines an adjustable grazing incidence angle source with reflected beam detection. When operated about the critical angle, this combination permits a variation of the x‐ray penetration depth which can be monitored by means of the reflectivity. At angles of incidence less than the critical angle, the sampling depth of the photoemission is diminished, but the photoemission from the surface is enhanced due to the constructive interference of the incident and reflected x‐ray beams. When used with Mg K&agr; radiation (E&ggr;=1253.6 eV), the spectrometry system obtains useful distributions of chemical species in surface layers of 10–40 A˚ thickness. We present data showing the depth dependence obtained with the spectrometer of different oxides in a sulfide‐treated, oxidized GaAs (100) surface.