SEPARATION OF SAMPLE GEOMETRY AND MATERIAL EFFECTS WITHIN THE SECONDARY-ELECTRON CASCADE - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS FOR GOLD

Experimental results are reported for the energy-analysed angular dist ributions of the secondary electron cascade with energies from 200 eV up to 2450 eV using an incident beam energy of 20 keV and samples of A u and Au on Si. These angular distributions are compared to those of t he Auger electron emission of the same samples. The dependence of the shape of the secondary electron cascade on the angle of incidence and the take-off angle to the analyser is examined. In the case of Au, the results are reported for a bulk and a layered specimen consisting of a thin Au film on an Si substrate. It is concluded for these samples t hat the contributions of the sample geometry and atomic number to the shape of the electron spectrum can be separated within a power law des cription of the secondary electron cascade.