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"The double-differential spectrum of coincidences between backscattered electrons and secondary electrons (SEs) emitted from a polycrystalline Al surface bombarded with 100-eV electrons was measured. For energy losses of the scattered electron in between the work function of Al and the bulk plasmon energy, a sharp peak is observed in the SE spectra, corresponding to ejection of a single electron near the Fermi edge receiving the full energy loss and momentum of the primary electron. This process predominantly takes place when the primary electron suffers a surface energy loss in vacuum, and leads to SE ejection from the very surface. At energy losses just above the bulk plasmon energy, a sharp transition is observed, corresponding to a sudden increase in the depth of ejection. The latter is a direct consequence of the complementarity of surface and bulk plasmons, the so-called Begrenzungs effect."

The mechanism of secondary electron emission by impact of 100-eV electrons on an Al(100) surface has been investigated by measuring the secondary electron spectrum in coincidence with loss features in the spectrum of reflected electrons. Distinct peaks are observed at energies corresponding accurately to the surface and bulk plasmon energies minus the work function of the analyzer, demonstrating that plasmons excited by electron energy losses predominantly decay via creation of single-electron-hole pairs that act as a source for the secondary electron spectrum. These findings suggest a mechanism for emission of secondary electrons very similar to photoelectron (PE) emission, the difference being the step leading to electron liberation, i.e., plasmon decay in the present case versus photoionization in the case of PE.

The collision statistics of the energy dissipation of Auger and photoelectrons emitted from an amorphized Si(100) surface is studied by measuring the Si 2p photoelectron line as well as the first plasmon loss peak in coincidence with the Si-LVV Auger transition and the associated first plasmon loss. The Si 2p plasmon intensity decreases when measured in coincidence with the Si-LVV peak. If measured in coincidence with the Si-LVV plasmon the decrease is significantly smaller. The results agree quantitatively with calculations accounting for surface, volume, and intrinsic losses as well as elastic scattering in a random medium. In this way one can determine the average emission depth of individual electrons by means of Auger photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy, which therefore constitutes a unique tool to investigate interfaces at the nanoscale level.

Secondary electron spectra emitted from polycrystalline Al have been measured in coincidence with 500 eV electrons reflected after undergoing a given energy loss. Contributions from bulk- and surface-plasmon decay have been observed, as well as contributions from LVV Auger electrons and electron-electron scattering.

The mechanism of secondary electron emission by impact of 100-eV electrons on an Al(100) surface has been investigated by measuring the secondary electron spectrum in coincidence with loss features in the spectrum of reflected electrons. Distinct peaks are observed at energies corresponding accurately to the surface and bulk plasmon energies minus the work function of the analyzer, demonstrating that plasmons excited by electron energy losses predominantly decay via creation of single-electron-hole pairs that act as a source for the secondary electron spectrum. These findings suggest a mechanism for emission of secondary electrons very similar to photoelectron (PE) emission, the difference being the step leading to electron liberation, i.e., plasmon decay in the present case versus photoionization in the case of PE.

A detailed comparison of the surface sensitivity of x-ray photoemission spectroscopy for hard and soft x rays is presented and discussed. Electron scattering parameters and their energy dependence are given for Si and two Si spectra are analyzed: a Mg K alpha (h nu=1253.6 eV) excited spectrum of the Si 2p and 2s lines and a hard x-ray excited spectrum (h nu=5925 eV) of the Si 1s line. The differential inelastic scattering characteristics for Si are extracted from reflection electron energy loss spectra taken at energies of 1500 and 4000 eV. Using these scattering characteristics and electron mean free paths from the literature, simulated spectra are compared with experiment. The experimental spectra are deconvoluted to give the true intrinsic line shape corresponding to the theoretical collision statistics when interference effects between intrinsic and extrinsic scattering are neglected. The magnitude of interference effects cannot be assessed by our analysis. Within the (unknown) uncertainty introduced by neglecting interference effects, it is possible to determine the relative intensity of intrinsic and extrinsic excitations. In this way, it is found that in the case of the soft x-ray excited photoelectron spectrum of the shallower electronic shells (2p and 2s), intrinsic plasmon creation is rather weak, and the apparent asymmetric line shape of the spectrum might be interpreted as the fact that electron-hole pair creation dominates the intrinsic loss spectrum, while an alternative explanation in terms of surface core level shifted components is also proposed. For the deeper core electronic shell, probed with hard x rays, the opposite situation is observed: while intrinsic electron-hole pair creation was not observed, a strong contribution of intrinsic plasmon losses of about 30% was seen.

The collision statistics of the energy dissipation of Auger and photoelectrons emitted from an amorphized Si(100) surface is studied by measuring the Si 2p photoelectron line as well as the first plasmon loss peak in coincidence with the Si-LVV Auger transition and the associated first plasmon loss. The Si 2p plasmon intensity decreases when measured in coincidence with the Si-LVV peak. If measured in coincidence with the Si-LVV plasmon the decrease is significantly smaller. The results agree quantitatively with calculations accounting for surface, volume, and intrinsic losses as well as elastic scattering in a random medium. In this way one can determine the average emission depth of individual electrons by means of Auger photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy, which therefore constitutes a unique tool to investigate interfaces at the nanoscale level.

""Spectra of secondary electrons (SE) emitted from a polycrystalline Al surface have been measured in coincidence with 500 eV-electrons for energy losses between 10 and 155 eV. The spectra for a given energy loss are qualitatively similar, consisting of surface and volume plasmon decay and a contribution attributable to direct electron-electron scattering. The similarity of the contribution of surface and volume plasmon decay in the SE spectra proves directly that electron multiple scattering is governed by a Markov-type process. The average value of the surface plasmon decay contribution to the SE spectrum amounts to similar to 25%. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063\\\/1.3658455]""