Secondary electron emission spectra from clean and cesiated Al surfaces: the role ofplasmon decay and data analysis for applications

Abstract

We report measurements of energy spectra of secondary electrons emitted from clean andcesiated aluminum surfaces under the impact of 130 eV electrons. Measurements show thatthe decay of bulk and surface plasmons dominates the electron emission. In contrast withtheoretical calculations, our experiments indicate that the electron collision cascade insidethe solid produced by electrons excited by plasmon decay do not contribute significantly toelectron emission.A simple analysis of electron energy distributions measured as a function of Cs surfacecoverage allows separation of rediffused incident electrons from the continuumbackground of true secondary electrons. The result shows that yields of rediffusedelectrons used in several applications may have been significantly overestimated.