Monte Carlo study of secondary electron emission

Based on our previous Monte Carlo simulation model of electron interactions with solids, including cascade secondary electron production, in which an optical dielectric function was used to describe electron energy loss and t he associated secondary electron excitation, we have systematically investi gated secondary electron generation and emission for 19 metals. The calcula ted secondary yield curve for primary beam energy ranging from 100 eV to 2 keV was found to correspond with the experimental universal curve. The depe ndence of the secondary yield on the work function was studied numerically, leading to a remarkable scattered deviation from Baroody's relationship. T his deviation shows that the secondary yield relates to different aspects o f behavior by electrons in a metal, such as the cascade production process, the stopping power and specific energy loss mechanism for a sample, and th e dependence on the electron density of states. The results provide an expl anation for the scattered data on the experimental yield versus the work fu nction. The calculations indicate that the characteristic energy loss of pr imaries may result in a corresponding feature in the energy distribution of secondaries. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.