The role of atomic hydrogen and its influence on the enhancement of secondary electron emission from C(001) surfaces

Abstract

The role of chemisorbed hydrogen in the enhancement of low-energy electron emission from natural type IIb C(001) diamond surfaces has been investigated. A hydrogen induced low-energy emission peak, whose intensity was found to be a linear function of surface coverage, was observed. The direct observation of emission from vacuum level states in the photoemission spectra has determined a negative electron affinity of ∼0.4 eV for the hydrogenated C(001)-1×1 surface. Constant initial states photoemission has unambiguously identified the electron emission process with the escape of electrons from bulk electron states at the conduction-band minimum.