Radiative interaction of slow electrons with metal surfaces

Abstract

Metals are traditionally referred to as nonluminescent substances. There appear, however, an ever-increasing number of publications dealing with the luminescence of metals in the visible and near uv region when irradiated with slow electrons (of about 100 eV energy). The characteristics of the luminescence turned out to be very sensitive to conditions of the surface. This paper represents a short review of experimental research in the field of, and theoretical models for, the radiative interaction of slow electrons with metal surfaces. It is emphasized that this phenomenon can be used for studying the electron properties of metal surfaces and the adsorption and desorption processes on them.