Diffraction effects in low-energy electron emission

The origin of diffraction peaks in the energy distribution of intensity of low-energy (< 1000 eV) electron emission from crystals is discussed from the standpoint of the dynamical theory of diffraction. The emitted electrons are considered to originate at relatively incoherent point sources in the crystal. The two-beam approximation of dynamical theory is used. The theory accounts for the chief regularities of diffraction peaks: temperature-dependence of peak intensities like that for low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) peaks, correlation of peak energies with X-ray absorption fine structure, and correlation of peak energies with the energies of normal-incidence LEED peaks in specular reflection. It is shown that the conditions for diffraction peaks coincide with the conditions for emergence of Kikuchi lines. It is predicted that for energies just above those of diffraction peaks, such emergences should be observable in the angular distribution of emission as intensity minima for emission along low-index crystal axes. Theory of Kikuchi band profiles is developed in an Appendix.