Surface spacings from the secondary electron yield

Abstract

Small inflections in plots of the total yield of secondary electrons versus primary electron energy were reported more than fifty years ago and attributed variously to thresholds for the excitation of core states, and to diffraction of the incident electrons. Although the existence of these inflections was discounted by later researchers, recent studies of the derivative of the yield leave no doubt as to their reality or their origin. The spectrum of core excitation thresholds provides information on the composition of the surface region. Near-threshold structure is related to the electronic state of the atoms. Extended fine structure above the threshold can be inverted to obtain interatomic spacings even from relatively disordered surfaces. The principal limitation in these measurements results from diffraction of the incident electron beam, which produces variations in electron reflectivity. The extreme simplicity of the equipment required makes this technique available to essentially every surface science laboratory.