Abstract
We discuss a proof-of-principle experiment in which we detect triple electron emission from a surface due to primary electron impact. The new aspect is the ability to record the energies and emission directions of the ejected electrons. We selected NiO films as a target, which have shown in previous electron pair emission studies to give an enhanced intensity compared to other materials. The triple sum energy spectrum displays a shape consistent with a self-convolution of the electronic density of states. We define two different emission geometries. While the energy distributions are essentially identical, the intensity levels differ by a factor of 2. Imposing a geometrical constraint on one of the emitted triples shows that the available energy is equally shared among the other two electrons. We discuss our findings within a simplified scattering model. We also present angular distributions. Prominent intensity minima for electron emission in the same direction are not observed in contrast to our previous electron pair emission studies.
Highlights
If a surface is exposed to ionizing radiation electron emission will set in
This part of the spectrum is termed secondary electron emission (SEE).The average number of electrons emitted per incoming electron is known as secondary electron yield δ
We prove that the (e,3e) process from a solid surface exists and is sufficiently intense to allow a spectroscopic investigation in which the electron energies and emission directions of the electrons are recorded
Summary
If a surface is exposed to ionizing radiation (e.g., primary electrons) electron emission will set in. An essentially constant intensity level is reached at approximately 40 eV This part of the spectrum is termed secondary electron emission (SEE).The average number of electrons emitted per incoming electron is known as secondary electron yield δ. The power of electron pair emission due to primary electron excitation or photon absorption is access to a fundamental concept of solid-state theory, namely, the exchange-correlation hole [22,23] It manifests itself in angular distributions with distinctive minima for equal emission directions [24,25,26,27,28,29,30]. An analysis of the angular distributions reveals nonuniform intensities but does not display prominent intensity maxima when electrons are emitted in the same direction, in contrast to the behavior in electron pair emission
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