Role of Bulk and Surface Plasmons in the Emission of Slow Secondary Electrons: Polycrystalline Aluminum

Abstract

Measurement of both the low-energy (true-secondary) and high-energy (characteristic-loss regions of the secondary-electron-emission spectrum of several types of polycrystalline aluminum have been made in order to explain structure seen at very low energies (0-20 eV). The data indicate that the structure is due to hot electrons losing energy by the creation of plasmons rather than by excitation of single electrons by decaying plasmons, as had been previously suggested.