The Secondary Electron Emission Yield for 24 Solid Elements Excited by Primary Electrons in the Range 250-5000 ev: A Theory/Experiment Comparison

The secondary electron (SE) yield, 6, was measured from 24 different elements at low primary beam energy (250-5,000 eV). Surface contamination affects the intensity of (5 but not its variation with primary electron energy. The experiments suggest that the mean free path of SEs varies across the d bands of transition metals in agreement with theory. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that surface plasmons may need to be included for improved agreement with experiment. SCANNING 30: 365-380, 2008. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.