The impact of secondary electrons induced contamination of the Ru surface was investigated. Mirror-like Ru sample was bombarded with low energy (100 eV) electrons and the change in surface chemistry was investigated using Xray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).Along with XPS studies the corresponding effect on in-situ EUV reflectivity was examined by exposing the Ru surface to photons at a wavelength of 13.5 nm in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber. Detailed XPS analyses showed a sudden increase in carbon concentrations on the Ru surface in the first 60 min, followed by a slow but linear growth in carbon concentration. In parallel, a noticeable decrease in water content was observed during the time of electrons irradiation along with slight oxidation of pure Ru surface. All chemical changes were discussed in terms of the electrons bombardment mediated dissociation of water and hydrocarbon molecules. A time dependent EUV reflectivity measurements show insignificant change in reflectivity up to 510 min of electrons bombardment. The impact of water molecules on the Ru surface and the accumulation of carbon through dissociation of residual hydrocarbons is discussed in details. © 2012 SPIE.