Infrared emission from surfaces under low-energy electron impact

The infrared photon emission from metal surfaces stimulated by the impact of low-energy electrons of kinetic energies between 0–10 eV has been measured. The results are presented as isochromat spectra from clean Ag and Na surfaces under different temperatures. Some IR emission features have been associated tentatively with inverse photoemission processes.     

Theoretical results on electron emission from copper surfaces

Some results of calculations on the angular distribution of electrons emitted from the (100) and (110) surfaces of Cu are presented. The emphasis is on final state effects in describing (i) emission from sources located in dilute overlayers and (ii) at lattice sites in the bulk. For the case of a dilute overlayer a strong similarity is observed in the results obtained for single and for multiple scattering by the bulk.     

Evidence for electron emission stimulated desorption from negative electron affinity GaAs surfaces

While desorption from surfaces caused by impinging electrons (electron stimulated desorption) is a well-established effect, electrons to be emitted also may give rise to desorption from an emitting surface (electron-emission stimulated desorption). Evidence for this effect is derived from data on the degradation of electron emission from negative electron affinity GaAs surfaces. The time dependence of the degradation is calculated, and agreement with the observed linear time dependence is found. Using the experimental degradation ata, the desorption cross section for the electron-emission stimulated desorption is obtained as 2 × 10^?25 cm².     

Ion induced secondary electron emission from single crystal surfaces

Yields of ion impact induced electrons from very pure Ni(110) and Ni(111) surfaces have been measured. In several tilt planes the angle of incidence of a 5 keV H⁺, H⁺₂ or H⁺₃ ion beam is varied from perpendicular to grazing incidence. Below = 75° the yield increases as sec but shows characteristic depressions when the beam is incident along crystallographically low indexed lattice directions. This is explained by kinetic electron emission with respect to the projectile transparency of the crystal lattice.     

Two-dimensional electron gas at noble-metal surfaces

The electrons of the surface states on the (111) surfaces of the noble metals Au, Ag, and Cu form a quasi-two-dimensional (2D) free electron gas which is confined to the first few atomic layers at the crystal surface. They are scattered by the potential associated with surface defects, e.g. impurity atoms, adatoms, or step edges, leading to quantum-interference patterns in the local density of states around these defects. We have used the quantum-interference phenomena to quantitatively measure the electron phase-relaxation length and to probe long-range adsorbate interactions. Received: 12 October 2001 / Accepted: 23 October 2001 / Published online: 3 April 2002     

Low-dimensional electron gas at semiconductor surfaces

In recent years, it has become possible to create well-ordered semiconductor surfaces with metallic surface states by using self-assembly of metal atoms. Since these states lie in the band gap of the semiconductor, they completely decouple from the substrate. In addition to two-dimensional structures it is possible to obtain arrays of one-dimensional atomic chains, which may be viewed as the ultimate nanowires. The dimensionality can be varied systematically by using vicinal surfaces with variable step spacing. Angle-resolved photoemission and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy reveal surprising features, such as a fractional band filling, nanoscale phase separation into doped and undoped chain segments, and a spin-splitting at a non-magnetic surface. Prospects for one-dimensional electron gas physics in atomic chains are discussed.     

Dynamical phenomena including many body effects at metal surfaces

In this contribution, we give a brief survey of some elementary many body processes observable at surfaces. We begin the survey by discussing how the electron ground state would behave and look like in real space at surfaces. Next, we discuss how these electrons behave when they are perturbed by external fields characterized by ultrashort time scales. We follow this with a discussion of how the dynamics of electrons would then affect the motion of adsorbates on surfaces. Finally, we cite some possible technological applications utilizing this knowledge. We also discuss possible trends or directions of scientific research in this century.     

Axial emission profiles and apparent secondary electron yield in abnormal glow discharges in argon

This paper reports investigations of argon glow discharges established between flat disk electrodes, at pressure × electrode separation values between 45 Pa cm and 150 Pa cm. Parallel to the experimental studies the discharge is also described by a self-consistent hybrid model. The model uses as input data the measured electrical characteristics, this way making it possible to determine the apparent secondary electron emission coefficient. The model is verified through comparison of the measured and calculated spatial profiles of light emission, which are in good agreement for a wide range of conditions in the abnormal glow mode. Additionally, we investigate the dependence of the field reversal position on the discharge conditions and test the usual assumption that the position of the peak of emission closely coincides with the cathode fall - negative glow boundary. Received 21 May 2002 Published online 24 September 2002     

Intrinsic electron accumulation at clean InN surfaces

The electronic structure of clean InN(0001) surfaces has been investigated by high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy of the conduction band electron plasmon excitations. An intrinsic surface electron accumulation layer is found to exist and is explained in terms of a particularly low Gamma-point conduction band minimum in wurtzite InN. As a result, surface Fermi level pinning high in the conduction band in the vicinity of the Gamma point, but near the average midgap energy, produces charged donor-type surface states with associated downward band bending. Semiclassical dielectric theory simulations of the energy-loss spectra and charge-profile calculations indicate a surface state density of 2.5 (+/-0.2)x10(13) cm(-2) and a surface Fermi level of 1.64+/-0.10 eV above the valence band maximum.     

Gamma-ray emission from thunderstorm discharges

Fine features of gamma-ray radiation registered during a thunderstorm at Tien-Shan Mountain Cosmic Ray Station are presented. Long duration (100-600 ms) gamma-ray bursts are found. They are for the first time identified with atmospheric discharges (lighting). Gamma-ray emission lasts all the time of the discharge and is extremely non-uniform consisting of numerous flashes. Its peak intensity in the flashes exceeds the gamma-ray background up to two orders of magnitude. Exclusively strong altitude dependence of gamma radiation is found. The observation of gamma radiation at the height 4-8 km could serve as a new important method of atmospheric discharge processes investigation.     

反冲原子对低速离子轰击Si表面时电子发射产额的影响

在兰州重离子加速器国家实验室电子回旋共振离子源高电荷态原子物理实验平台上,用低能(0.75keV/u≤EP/MP≤10.5keV/u,即3.8×105m/s≤vP≤1.42×106m/s)He2+,O2+和Ne2+离子束正入射到自清洁Si表面时二次电子发射产额的实验结果.结果表明电子发射产额γ近似正比于入射离子动能EP/MP.在相同动能下,γ(O)γ(Ne)γ(He),对于原子序数ZP比较大的O2+和Ne2+离子,ZP大者反而γ小,这与较高入射能量时的结果截然不同.通过计算不同入射能量下入射离子的阻止能损S,发现反冲原子对激发二次电子的作用随入射离子能量的降低显著增大,这正是导致在较低能量范围内二次电子发射产额与较高入射能量时存在差异的主要原因.     

Designing variable height carbon nanotube bundle for enhanced electron field emission

A variable height model has been implemented in order to improve the emission performance from a nanotube bundle. A Gaussian distribution of nanotube heights has been considered. This resulted in a nearly uniform electric field distribution across all the nanotubes and consequently an enhanced emission current in comparison to a nanotube bundle with all the nanotubes having the same height. Simulation results from linear as well as area nanotube bundles are reported. The analysis helped in providing a better understanding of the previously reported experimental results on enhanced field emission from plasma treated nanotube bundles having CNTs of variable heights.     

No enhanced electron emission from high-density atomic collision cascades in metals

Ion-induced secondary electron emission was studied for vanadium and niobium cluster ions at incident energies between 12.5 and 25 keV. The number of electrons ejected per incident atomic particle was found to be solely a function of the velocity, being independent of the number of atoms in the cluster. In spite of the extremely high energy densities created by cluster ion impact, there is no enhanced electron emission from collision spikes. This is discussed in terms of energy coupling between the system of lattice atoms and that of the electrons in the solid.     

Angular distributions of auger electron emission: Clean and gas-adsorbed polycrystalline Ni surfaces

The excitation angle (β) and emission angle (θ) dependences of the Ni M₂,₃VV (61 eV) and Ni L₃VV (850 eV) Auger emissions from clean polycrystalline Ni surfaces, and the S L₂, ₃ M₂, ₃M₂, ₃ (150 eV) Auger emission from S-adsorbed poly-Ni surfaces have been investigated. In the case of Ni (61 eV) and S Auger emissions, the β-dependence shows the $\text{1}\text{cos β}$ distribution, while a significant deviation from $\text{1}\text{cos β}$ is observed for Ni (850 eV) Auger emission. The cosθ distribution and the intermediate between isotropic and cosθ distributions are observed for Ni (61 eV), and for Ni (850 eV) and S Auger emissions, respectively. Those results have been found to be in fairly good agreement with the calculations based on the simple continuum model without consideration of the diffraction effect and the inherent anisotropic emission.