Role of rediffused primary electrons in secondary-electron ejection from a Cu(100) surface.

Abstract

The energy and angle dependence of the spin polarization of secondary electrons ejected from a Cu(100) surface by a polarized incident electron beam of energy 14, 50, and 100 eV has been investigated. At energies approaching the incident beam energy the secondary-electron polarization is comparable to that of the incident beam. The polarization decreases with decreasing secondary-electron energy, however, and at the lowest energies approaches zero. The data are interpreted in terms of the fractional contributions of rediffused primary and true secondary electrons to the total secondary-electron current.