Contribution of surface plasmon decay to secondary electron emission from an Al surface

Abstract

Spectra of secondary electrons (SE) emitted from a polycrystalline Al surface have been measured in coincidence with 500 eV-electrons for energy losses between 10 and 155 eV. The spectra for a given energy loss are qualitatively similar, consisting of surface and volume plasmon decay and a contribution attributable to direct electron–electron scattering. The similarity of the contribution of surface and volume plasmon decay in the SE spectra proves directly that electron multiple scattering is governed by a Markov-type process. The average value of the surface plasmon decay contribution to the SE spectrum amounts to ∼25%.