A comparison of ion-induced electron emission and secondary ion yields

Ion-induced electron emission from solid surfaces is studied using a beam of caesium ions. Features of the spectra obtained during depth profiling of layered structures suggest a novel technique for investigating ion-induced Auger processes. Depth profiles are presented in terms of measured secondary ion signals, electron-induced Auger emission, and the intensities of features in the ion-induced electron spectra. It is shown that changes in features of the ion-induced electron spectra can be related to changes of chemical composition and sputtering probability. These help in the interpretation of variations in secondary-ion yields with matrix composition during depth profiling.     

Kinetic ion-induced electron emission from the surface of random solids

This is a review of the published papers devoted to kinetic ion-electron emission from the surface of polycrystalline and amorphous solids. It contains the analysis of energy, angular, temperature, and other dependences of the ion-electron emission coefficient as well as of the energy and angular distributions and the statistics of electron emission events. We also give a brief account of the theoretical studies on the subject.     

Angular dependences of sputtering ratio,ion-electron emission coefficient and ion-induced photon emission yield at oblique ion incidence on crystalline targets

The angular dependences of the sputtering ratio, ion-induced photon emission yield and the ion-electron emission coefficient for two faces of a copper'crystal at glancing angles of ion incidence on the targets has been experimentally studied.     

High energy excitations in ion-induced electron emission from AlF3

Measurements of electron emission spectra from surfaces of aluminum fluoride impacted by keV noble gas ions show a high-energy structure, peaking around 7 eV that increases in intensity with ion energy. The shape of this structure, identified by Factor Analysis, is independent of the nature and the energy of the impinging ions. We discuss one electron, two electron and plasmon excitation mechanisms and conclude that the high-energy structure results from the autoionization of F^? 2p⁴nl n′l′ excited by electron promotion in close atomic collisions.     

Monte Carlo simulation of ion-induced kinetic electron emission statistics from solids

Abstract

Electron emission statistics (ES) of proton-induced electron emission from Au at keV energy are investigated by applying a Monte Carlo model to describe the transport of electrons. Apparent deviations of ES from Poisson distributions are found in the same manner as experimental ES: larger probabilities for no electron emission and for emission of 2 or more electrons. At low energy, electron cascades produce an important deviation from the Poisson distribution, in addition with deviations due to the backscattering of incident ions.     

Field electron emission of carbon-based nanocone films

Diamond nanocone, graphitic nanocone, and mixed diamond and graphitic nanocone films have been synthesized through plasma enhanced hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD). The field emission properties of these films have been experimentally investigated. The studies have revealed that all three kinds of nanocone films have excellent field electron emission (FEE) properties including low turn-on electric field and large emission current at low electric field. Compared with the diamond nanocone films (emission current of 86 μA at 26 V/μm with the turn-on field of 10 V/μm), the graphitic nanocone films exhibit higher FEE current of 1.8×10² μA at 13 V/μm and a lower turn-on filed of 4 V/μm. The mixed diamond and graphitic nanocone films have been found to posses FEE properties similar to graphitic nanocone films (emission current of 1.7×10² μA at 20 V/μm with the turn-on field of 5 V/μm), but have much better FEE stability than the graphitic nanocone films. PACS 81.07.Bc; 81.05.Uw; 79.70.+q     

Parametric dependence of ion temperature and electron density in the summa hot-ion plasma using laser light scattering and emission spectroscopy

Hot-ion plasma experiments were conducted in the NASA Lewis SUMMA facility. A steady-state modified Penning discharge was formed by applying a radially inward d.c. electric field of several kilovolts near the magnetic mirror maxima. Results are reported for a hydrogen plasma covering a wide range in midplane magnetic flux densities from 0.5 to 3.37 T. Input power greater than 45 kW was obtained with water-cooled cathodes. Steady-state plasmas with ion kinetic temperatures from 18 to 830 eV were produced and measured spectroscopically. These ion temperatures were correlated with current, voltage, and magnetic flux density as the independent variables. Electron density measurements were made using an unusually sensitive Thomson scattering apparatus. The measured electron densities ranged from 2.1 x 10¹¹ to 6.8 x 10¹²1/cm³.     

Laser induced ion emission from wide bandgap materials

At fluences well below the threshold for plasma formation, we have characterized the direct desorption of atomic ions from fused silica surfaces during 157 nm irradiation by time-resolved mass spectroscopy. The principal ions are Si⁺ and O⁺. The emission intensities are dramatically increased by treatments that increase the density of surface defects. Molecular dynamics simulations of the silica surface suggest that silicon ions bound at surface oxygen vacancies (analogous to E′ centers) provide suitable configurations for the emission of Si⁺. We propose that emission is best understood in terms of a hybrid mechanism involving both antibonding chemical forces (Menzel-Gomer-Redhead model) and repulsive electrostatic forces on the adsorbed ion after laser excitation of the underlying defect.     

Effect of temperature on the electron field emission from aligned carbon nanofibers and multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Effect of temperature and aspect ratio on the field emission properties of vertically aligned carbon nanofiber and multiwalled carbon nanotube thin films were studied in detail. Carbon nanofibers and multiwalled carbon nanotube have been synthesized on Si substrates via direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. Surface morphologies of the films have been studied by a scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and an atomic force microscope. It is found that the threshold field and the emission current density are dependent on the ambient temperature as well as on the aspect ratio of the carbon nanostructure. The threshold field for carbon nanofibers was found to decrease from 5.1 to 2.6 V/μm when the temperature was raised from 300 to 650 K, whereas for MWCNTs it was found to decrease from 4.0 to 1.4 V/μm. This dependence was due to the change in work function of the nanofibers and nanotubes with temperature. The field enhancement factor, current density and the dependence of the effective work function with temperature and with aspect ratio were calculated and we have tried to explain the emission mechanism.     

Structure modification and emission properties of carbon-based materials under high-dose irradiation

Recently obtained experimental results on sputtering, ion-induced electron emission, elemental composition, structure, and topography of modified surface layers of carbon-based materials (polycrystalline graphites, highly oriented pyrolitic graphite, glassy carbons, et al.) under high-dose ion irradiation are presented and discussed.     

Temperature dependence of ion-induced auger electron emission from (111) silicon: I. Experiments

Abstract

Measurements of both secondary electron emission coefficient γ and SiL₂₃ Auger yield ρ_A obtained from (111) Si target bombarded by high fluence of noble gas ions were performed. For Si irradiated at room temperature at doses more than 10¹⁷ ions per cm², monotonous increasing variation of γ and ρ_A versus incidence angle i was observed. For Si irradiated at a temperature more than a critical value, γ(i) and ρ_A(i) curves exhibited, superimposed to monotonous variation, some minima when the ion beam penetrates the crystal along low index directions. In the range 20–650°C, the Auger yield temperature dependence showed a sharp variation around a critical value depending on the ion mass for a given incident energy. These results are linked to an amorphous-crystalline phase transition.     

Low-energy ion-induced electron emission from a MgO(100) thin film: the role of the MgO-substrate interface

We present a detailed study of the electron emission from a thin MgO(100) film on a Mo substrate, bombarded with slow He+, Ne+, and Ar+ ions. Neither the high absolute number of emitted electrons per incoming ion nor the electron spectra can be due to Auger neutralization of the incoming ions at the MgO surface alone. Therefore, an additional mechanism is proposed: holes created in the MgO film are transported to the MgO-substrate interface where they give rise to an Auger neutralization process involving two electrons from the metal substrate conduction band.     

Effect of the periodic ion density channel on the behavior of the ion hose instability of a relativistic electron beam

The dynamics of a relativistic electron beam propagating in an ion channel with a periodically varying density is considered. The behavior of the ion hose instability at different parameters of the beam-ion channel system is studied using the spread mass model. Conditions are determined under which the ion hose instability does not hinder the beam propagation over distances on the order of 100 betatron lengths of the beam.     

Effects of positron density and temperature on ion acoustic dressed solitons in an electron–positron–ion plasma

Ion acoustic dressed solitons in a three component plasma consisting of cold ions, hot electrons and positrons are studied. Using reductive perturbation method, Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation and a linear inhomogeneous equation, governing respectively the evolution of first and second order potentials are derived for the system. Renormalization procedure of Kodama and Taniuti is used to obtain nonsecular solutions of these coupled equations. It is found that electron–positron–ion plasma system supports only compressive solitons. For a given amplitude of soliton on increasing the positron concentration, velocity of the KdV as well as dressed soliton increases. For any arbitrary values of soliton's amplitude and positron concentration, velocity of the dressed soliton is found to be larger than that of the KdV soliton. For small amplitude of solitons, the width of KdV as well as dressed soliton decreases as positron concentration increases and width of dressed soliton is found to be larger than that of the KdV soliton. However, for a large value of soliton's amplitude as concentration of positrons increases, instead of decreasing width of dressed soliton starts to increase.     

Cesium effect on ion-induced secondary photon emission from a GaAs surface

The ion-induced photon emission from excited Ga atoms sputtered from a GaAs single crystal was measured as a function of cesium coverage on the specimen surface. The results showed a remarkable non-linearity in photon yield against cesium coverage. This implies that the photon enhancement effect due to cesium adsorption is nonlocal and relates to the nonradiative deexcitation process of sputtered atoms.     

Investigation of electron localization in harmonic emission from asymmetric molecular ion

We theoretically investigate the electron localization around two nuclei in harmonic emission from asymmetric molecular ion. The results show that the ionization process of electron localized around one nucleus competes with its transfer process to the other nucleus. By increasing the initial vibrational level, more electrons localized around the nucleus D+tend to transfer to the nucleus He2+so that the ionizations of electrons localized around the nucleus He2+increase. In this case, the difference in harmonic efficiency between He H2+and He D2+decreases while the difference in harmonic spectral structure increases. The evident minimum can be observed in the harmonic spectrum of He H2+compared with that in the spectral structure of He D2+, which is due to the strong interference of multiple recombination channels originating from two nuclei. Time-dependent nuclear probability density, electron-nuclear probability density, double-well model, and time-frequency maps are presented to explain the underlying mechanisms.