Secondary Electron Emission from Cylindrical Particles

Abstract

The secondary electron emission (SEE) caused by high energy electrons, incident obliquely on a cylindrical particle has been derived by considering appropriate paths traversed by the primary electron in the particle into account. Expressions for the SEE efficiency corresponding to mono-energetic as well as Maxwellian energy distribution of primary electrons have been derived. Further the dependence of this efficiency on the penetration depth (xm), angle of incidence (λ), particle radius (a) and the mean energy (kTe) of the incident primary electrons has been analyzed and graphically illustrated. The analysis reflects that the SEE is dominant for small cylindrical particles and high energy primary electrons. The yield is more pronounced in the case of spherical particles than that in the case of cylindrical particles of the same radius. The study is of relevance to space and laboratory dusty plasmas where cylindrical particles are frequent.