Analysis of the spin polarization of secondary electrons emitted from Au/Fe

The spin polarization of secondary electrons emitted from Au thin films on an Fe substrate is studied with a Monte Carlo simulation of electron scattering. The magnetic information depth of the secondary electrons is estimated by fitting the exponential function to the calculated data and we found that the magnetic information depth increases with the primary electron energy from 11.5 at 0.3 to 26.3 Å at 4 keV. This result agrees fairly with the experimental one for the same nonmagnetic/magnetic bilayer system and it is much larger than that reported so far for bulk magnetic materials.     

An experimental comparison of the total-electron-yield and conversion-electron-yield modes for near-surface characterization using X-ray excitation

The electron yield technique is a very useful method for studying near-surface information of a thick sample because of the shallowness of the electron escape depth. In the present study, the glancing-angle dependence of the total electron yield (TEY) and the conversion electron yield (CEY) was measured at a 13 keV photon energy. It was found that the signal intensity in the CEY mode was larger than that for the TEY mode because air molecules are ionized by high-energy electrons emitted from the sample to form ion-electron pairs in air at atmospheric pressure. In addition, the probing depth for the TEY mode was found to be shallower than that for the CEY mode. The difference is due to the relative contribution of low-energy electrons emitted from the sample in the CEY mode being smaller than in the TEY mode. Thus high-energy electrons are selectivity detected in the CEY mode. Estimates for the value of the probing depth of the TEY and CEY modes are given from calculations.     

On the information depth of auger electron appearance potential spectroscopy

The information depth of AEAPS in comparison with AES was estimated using the overlayer technique. The strengths of the AES and AEAPS L₃ and L₁ signals of Cr and Ti were measured as a function of the Cr overlayer thickness on a Ti substrate. No significant differences between the information depths of both methods have been found. It follows that the information depth of AEAPS is basically limited by the mean free path of the primary electrons. Slight disagreement between the results obtained for the L₃ and L₁ subshells of Ti and Cr may indicate that the information depth of AEAPS could be modified by the kind of relaxation mechanism and the subsequent transport process.     

Probing depth of the low energy cascade electrons from a transition metal

A surface probing depth of only 2 layers for low energy cascade electrons excited with a 3.2 keV primary electron beam is clearly demonstrated by model experiments with non-magnetic overlayers of Ta on magnetic substrates of Fe/Ni₈₀Fe₂₀. This result establishes a short probing depth of low energy electrons in transition metals generalizing the previously observed short magnetic probing depth for spin-polarized electrons in ferromagnets. The short probing depth sheds new light on a number of spectroscopic observations on ferromagnetic transition metals, and has important implications concerning surface magnetic properties and scattering processes of hot electrons in transition metals.     

微结构X射线源中电子与阳极作用的蒙特卡罗模拟

根据电子多重散射理论,基于蒙特卡罗方法研究不同能量电子垂直入射不同材料的阳极靶后,电子在阳极靶内的沉积能量分布,及X射线发射位置的能量分布.结果表明：电子在靶内的轨迹扩展和入射电子能量、靶材料有关,99%电子能量沉积在近似圆柱形区域内.且电子在入射方向上的沉积能量分布不是直接递减,而是先递增到一定深度后再递减,符合电子背散射理论.说明X射线产生区域是在距表面一定深度区域内.另外,通过对比分析发现金刚石膜作为电子吸收光栅是不可行的,但作为热沉材料有很大的潜力.这些结论可为微结构X射线源研究及高亮度高相干X射线源设计提供参考.     

Zur Lage des Maximums der Ausbeutekurve bei der Sekundärelektronenemission

There exists a quantitative connection between penetration depth of primary electrons, the maximum escape depth of secondary electrons and the position of the maximum of the yield curve if one assumes: (1) the maximum of the yield curve is determined by an energyE _p ^max of the primary electrons where the maximum penetration depth of primary electrons equals the maximum escape depth of the secondary electrons; and (2) the maximum escape depth of secondary electrons is given by 10 atomic layers for all metals investigated as it has been found earlier by Mayer and Hölzl for potassium. These assumptions are confirmed experimentally by measurements of yield curves and energy distributions at defined conditions and by variation of several parameters as temperature, contamination of the surface, surface roughness, evaporation conditions, and angle of incidence of the primary electrons.     

Conductivity of single-crystal and polycrystalline bilayer metal films under the conditions of interdiffusion

The electrical conductivity of a bilayer film with a single-crystal or polycrystalline structure is theoretically investigated under the conditions of metal interdiffusion at an arbitrary ratio between the thickness of layers and the mean free path of electrons in the layers. It is shown that analysis of the changes in the electrical conductivity of the bilayer film due to diffusion annealing allows one to elucidate the nature of the processes of bulk and grain-boundary diffusion, to determine the effective depth of penetration of impurity atoms into the bulk and grain boundaries of the sample, and to obtain information on the bulk and grain-boundary diffusion coefficient.     

SrS∶Eu,Sm光存储机理的研究

采用高温固相反应法在还原气氛下制备了SrS:Eu,Sm样品,利用荧光光谱仪测量了这种光存储材料的激发光谱和发射光谱.将样品用紫外灯(265 nm)照射激发饱和后,再用980 nm的红外激光器激励,利用荧光光谱仪测试得到了峰值位于599 nm的光激励发光光谱.此外还利用热释光谱仪测试了样品的热释光谱.探讨了SrS:Eu,Sm的光存储机理,认为引入的稀土离子在SrS的带隙中形成分裂能级.当用紫外光照射材料时,Eu的电子从基态被激发到激发态或基质材料的导带,其中一部分电子被辅助激活剂Sm的陷阱俘获,实现信息写入.当材料被与陷阱深度相当的红外光激励时,电子陷阱Sm2 俘获的电子才可能跃出俘获能级,与空穴在Eu的激发态和基态能级上复合,多余的能量以可见光的形式释放出来,实现信息读出.     

New theoretical results about the anisotropy of the secondary emission of Al(001) and Al(110)

The source function giving the number of electrons acquiring the energy E and the direction of propagation Ω at the depth z in a target of aluminium submitted to a bombardment of electrons of an energy of 350 eV is evaluated by a Monte Carlo calculation. This source function is used to study the anisotropy of the secondary electron emission. The influences of the depth dependence and of the anisotropy of the source function on the anisotropy of the secondary electron emission on Al(001) and Al(110) are negligible. These results are considered as an evidence that the observed anisotropy in the emitted beam is due to electron final state effects.     

Depth Distribution of Residual Fluorine in a Polyvinylidene Fluoride Film under Electron Bombardment

The influence of the initial energy of electrons on the kinetics of the defluorination of the surface of a polyvinylidene fluoride film (PVDF) under electron bombardment is studied. The kinetic equation of the third order describes this process for any electron energy. The minimum possible fluorine content in the near-surface layer of the PVDF film exposed to long-duration bombardment is determined. The depth of penetration of electrons into the sample, i.e. the free path of bombarding electrons with different initial energies, is calculated. The nonmonotonic depth distribution of residual fluorine in the film, which to a great extent depends on the electron energy, is revealed.     

Anomalous passage of ultrarelativistic electrons in thick single crystals in axial channeling

The dynamics of ultrarelativistic axially channeled electrons in thick crystals is studied. It is revealed that a certain fraction of initial electrons have anomalously large dechanneling depths. It is shown also that the dechanneling depth in heavy and light crystals are comparable. In some cases, the number of channeled electrons can strongly increase at the expence of quasi-channeled electrons.

The problem of quasichanneling is also considered.     

Mechanisms of charging of insulators under irradiation with medium-energy electron beams

The electron emission and charge characteristics of a large number of massive insulators are investigated qualitatively and quantitatively. It is demonstrated that irradiation of insulators with a medium-energy continuous electron beam leads to a decrease in the equilibrium energy of incident electrons (the second critical energy) as compared to the theoretical value. The equilibrium state of charging to saturation is attained for times from several seconds to several hundred seconds depending on the irradiation current density, the electron energy, and the insulator material. The mechanisms of charging are explained in the framework of the model according to which irradiation is accompanied by the formation of a charged double layer that consists of a positively charged layer (with the thickness equal to the escape depth of secondary electrons) and a negatively charged layer (with the thickness equal to the penetration depth of primary electrons).     

New developments in the surface analysis of solids

In both fundamental and applied surface physics, it is essential to know as much as possible about the chemical composition of the outer atomic layers of solids. Rapid progress has recently been made in the development of analytical methods which could be used in surface analysis. All utilize some type of emission (photons, electrons, atoms, molecules, ions), caused by excitation of the surface states. Both the “excitation” and emission processes must meet certain basic requirements as regards information depth, form in which the information is obtained, sensitivity, changes in the surface layer during analysis, etc. The more important of the methods that qualify, namely Auger-Electron Spectroscopy (AES), photo-Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) and the static method of Secondary-Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), are discussed and their potentialities and limitations illustrated by characteristic examples.     

Ultra-short pulse laser ablation of copper, silver and tungsten: experimental data and two-temperature model simulations

Experimental results of femtosecond laser ablation of the metals copper, silver and tungsten are compared to simulations based on the two-temperature model. The comparison provides new information about the laser-heating process: For the noble metals (Cu, Ag), the energy transport via ballistic electrons must be included, while this effect is negligible for a transition metal (W). The comparison provides values for the range of ballistic electrons in the noble metals. The model calculation is also employed to investigate the dependence of the threshold fluence and melting depth on pulse duration. It is observed that for pulses shorter than approximately 1 ps the threshold fluence and melting depth are independent of the pulse duration, while they increase as τ ^0.47 and τ ^0.51, respectively, for pulses longer than ∼40 ps, in good agreement with approximate analytical expressions predicting a ?{t}\sqrt{\tau} dependence.     

Depth dependence of the anomalous thermal behavior of Cu(110)

We report the results of a mirror electron microscope low energy electron diffraction (MEM-LEED) study of anomalous thermal behavior caused by enhanced thermal vibrational motion on a clean Cu(110) surface. The enhanced vibrational amplitudes cause diffracted intensities to deviate from simple Debye-Waller behavior. These deviations become apparent between 550 K and 600 K; i.e. at about 0.45 of the bulk melting temperature. Because of the finite penetration of low energy electrons, LEED intensities contain information about both surface and subsurface order. Our LEED results are analyzed to extract this information using a kinematical model in which the electron attenuation and the depth and temperature dependent vibrational amplitudes are parametrized. For a large range of model parameters, we conclude that by 850 K large anharmonic vibrations are present in several layers and at least two subsurface layers may have melted.     

Bremsstrahlung of the free electrons arising in an irradiated specimen

A model of the bremsstrahlung produced by photoelectrons, Auger electrons, and Compton electrons arising in an irradiated specimen is proposed. Calculations have shown that the contribution of the Compton electron bremsstrahlung shows up for monochromatic primary radiation of high-energy photons. For the primary radiation of x-ray tubes, only the bremsstrahlung spectrum of photoelectrons and Auger electrons is significant. The factors affecting the proportions between these components are considered. The bremsstrahlung spectral distribution of the mentioned electrons shows considerable deviations from that predicted by the Kramers theory that are due to the large depth of their occurrence and to the ambiguity of their energy. The region of the spectrum has been determined where the intensity of the electron bremsstrahlung is greater than the intensity of the x-ray tube polychromatic primary radiation scattered by the irradiated object.     

Temperature effect on the increase of the Kumakhov radiation yield at axial channeling of relativistic electrons

The possibility of a sharp increase of the Kumakhov radiation intensity at low crystal temperatures as compared to room temperature is investigated theoretically. The analysis is based on a solution of the Fokker-Planck kinetic equation describing the change of the particle distribution over the axial channel depth due to scattering at thermal vibrations of nuclei and electrons.     

Anisotropy of thermal excitation from impurities and nonequilibrium currents in homogeneous pyroelectric semiconductors

The anisotropy of the thermal excitation probability of electrons from the impurities in a pyroelectric crystal causes the appearance of the electric current if the nonequilibrium is being kept. Namely, the inequality of chemical potentials of free and bound electrons is considered to be the reason of this nonequilibrium. The value of the current is calculated for the one-phonon excitation of the electrons from shallow hydrogen-like impurities the depth of which is less than the Debye frequency or the same order of it.     

Determination of the inelastic mean free path of electrons in GaAs and InP after surface cleaning by ion bombardment using elastic peak electron spectroscopy

The inelastic mean free path (IMFP) of electrons is an important material parameter needed for quantitative AES, EELS and non-destructive depth profiling. The distinction between the terms for IMFP and the attenuation length (AL) has been established by ASTM standards. A practical experimental method for determining values of the IMFP is elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES). In this method, experimentally determined ratios of elastically backscattered electrons from test surfaces and from a Ni reference standard are compared with the values evaluated theoretically.The present paper reports systematic measurements of the IMFP by EPES for GaAs and InP. They are carried out in two laboratories using two different electron spectrometers: a CMA in Budapest and DCMA in Warsaw. Prior to measurements, the samples were amorphized by high-energy Ar⁺ ions (100–400 keV), and the surface composition was determined by quantitative XPS. Argon cleaning produces enrichment of samples in the surface layer in Ga (80%) and In (70%), respectively. The experiments refer to a such modified sample surface that was considered in Monte Carlo calculations. The experimental data were analyzed using calibration curves from Monte Carlo calculations which account for multiple elastic scattering events. This approach has been used previously for elemental solids and is now extended to amorphized binary compounds. The experimental values of IMFP obtained in both laboratories exhibited a reasonable agreement with the available literature data in the 0.1–3.0 keV energy range. With respect to the information depth of EPES, the experimental results refer to the bulk composition within a reasonable extent.     

Interaction of a high-intensity ultrashort laser pulse with extended nanofilaments of dense plasma

Generation and propagation of fast electrons in laser targets consisting of thin nanofilaments are studied numerically and analytically. Such targets completely absorb laser radiation and exhibit a large coefficient of laser-energy conversion to kinetic energy of a flow of fast electrons. Analytical estimates show that the optimal thickness of the filament is on the order of the skin depth of the laser plasma, while an optimal distance between filaments is on the order of the Debye radius of hot electrons. A bunch of relativistic electrons can propagate as far as several hundred micrometers in such targets, while the fastest electrons can propagate several millimeters. Upon bending of filaments, the flow of electrons propagates along the filaments and can be focused by bringing the filaments together. Laser targets of the discussed composition are used as sources of dense bunches of relativistic electrons and subsequent generation of high-intensity X-ray radiation with their help.