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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Secondary electron emission characteristics of ion-textured copper and high-purity isotropic graphite surfaces

Experimentally determined values of true secondary electron emission and relative values of reflected primary electron yield for untreated and ion textured oxygen free high conductivity copper and untreated and ion textured high purity isotropic graphite surfaces are presented for a range of primary electron beam energies and beam impingement angles. This investigation was conducted to provide information that would improve the efficiency of multistage depressed collectors (MDC's) for microwave amplifier traveling wave tubes in space communications and aircraft applications. For high efficiency, MDC electrode surfaces must have low secondary electron emission characteristics. Although copper is a commonly used material for MDC electrodes, it exhibits relatively high levels of secondary electron emission if its surface is not treated for emission control. Recent studies demonstrated that high purity isotropic graphite is a promising material for MDC electrodes, particularly with ion textured surfaces. The materials were tested at primary electron beam energies of 200 to 2000 eV and at direct (0 deg) to near grazing (85 deg) beam impingement angles. True secondary electron emission and relative reflected primary electron yield characteristics of the ion textured surfaces were compared with each other and with those of untreated surfaces of the same materials. Both the untreated and ion textured graphite surfaces and the ion treated copper surface exhibited sharply reduced secondary electron emission characteristics relative to those of untreated copper. The ion treated graphite surface yielded the lowest emission levels.

Curren, A. N.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Analysis of multipacting threshold sensitivity to the random distributions of the secondary electron yield parameters

The way multipacting develops, depends strongly on the secondary emission property of the surface material. The knowledge of secondary electron yield is crucial for accurate prediction of the multipacting threshold. Variations in secondary electron yield parameters from experimental measurements create uncertainty, stemming from handling and surface preparation, and these uncertainties significantly affect multipacting threshold predictions. Despite their significance, the previous studies on the multipacting phenomenon did not adequately address the effect of an assumed random distribution of the secondary emission parameters on the multipacting threshold. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive statistical study on how the different random distributions of the secondary emission parameters and, as a result, the uncertainty in the secondary electron yield affect multipacting thresholds. We focus on three commonly used distributions, namely uniform, normal, and truncated normal distributions, to define the uncertainty of random inputs. We use the chaos polynomial expansion method to determine how much each of the random parameters contributes to the multipacting threshold uncertainty. Additionally, we calculate Sobol sensitivity indices to evaluate the impact of the individual parameters or groups of parameters on the model outputs and study how different random distributions of these parameters affected the Sobol index results.

physics↗
NASA NTRS1990

Secondary electron emission characteristics of molybdenum-masked, ion-textured OFHC copper

A method for producing a uniform, highly textured surface on oxygen-free, high conductivity (OFHC) copper by ion bombardment using sputtered molybdenum as a texture-inducing masking film was developed and used to provide samples for study. The purpose was to develop a basically OFHC copper surface having very low secondary electron emission characteristics. Surfaces having low secondary electron emission are a requirement for the electrodes of very high efficiency multistage depressed collectors (MDC's). Such MDC's are used in microwave amplifier traveling wave tubes for space communications and other applications. OFHC copper is the material most commonly used for MDC electrodes because it has high thermal conductivity, it is easy to machine, and its fabrication and brazing procedures are well established. However, its untreated surface displays relatively very high levels of secondary electron emissions. Textured OFHC copper samples were tested for true secondary electron emission and relative reflected primary electron yield at primary electron beam energy levels from 200 to 2000 eV and at direct (0 deg) to oblique (60 deg) beam impingement angles. The test results for three of the samples, each of which was processed in a slightly different way, are compared with each other and with test results for a machined OFHC copper sample. Although the textured samples are not represented here as having been processed optimally, their measured secondary electron emission characteristics are significantly lower than those of the untreated OFHC copper sample over the range of conditions studied. Importantly, the relative reflected primary electron yield of one of the textured samples is conspicuously lower than that of the others. Clearly, with further development, the molybdenum-masked ion-textured OFHC copper surface will be a promising material for high-efficiency MDC electrodes.

Curren, Arthur N.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Secondary electron emission characteristics of untreated and ion-textured titanium

Experimentally determined values of true secondary electron emission and relative values of reflected primary electron yield are presented for untreated (simply machined) and ion-textured, high-purity titanium over ranges of primary electron beam energies and beam impingement angles. The purpose of the investigation was to explore the feasibility of using titanium as electrode material in the multistage depressed collectors (MDC's) used in microwave amplifier traveling wave tubes (TWT's) for space communications and aircraft applications. Because of its relatively low density and thermal expansion characteristics and relatively high strength, thermal emissivity, and melting temperature, titanium presents itself as a possible candidate for the MDC electrode application. A detailed description of the method of ion texturing the titanium is included. Although the ion-treated surface considered in this study is not presented as being optimum from the standpoint of secondary electron emission suppression, it nevertheless serves to demonstrate that the surface can be modified by this procedure to significantly reduce these emission characteristics relative to those of the untreated surface. Further studies can reasonably be expected to produce surfaces with even lower secondary emission characteristics. The titanium surface were tested at primary electron beam energies of 200 to 2000 eV and at direct (0 deg) to near-grazing (85 deg) beam impingement angles. True secondary electron emission and relative reflected primary electron yield characteristics of the surfaces were compared with each other and with textured titanium surface exhibited secondary electron emission characteristics sharply lower than those exhibited by untreated titanium or copper. Clearly, then, in consideration of the secondary electron emission suppression of ion-textured titanium along with its other favorable physical properties, it must be included as a potential candidate for use as MDC electrode material in some applications.

Curren, Arthur N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Beam impingement angle effects on secondary electron emission characteristics of textured pyrolytic graphite

Experimentally determined values of true secondary electron emission and relative values of reflected primary electron yield for untreated and ion-textured pyrolytic graphite over a range of primary electron energy levels and electron beam impingement angles are presented. Information required to develop high efficiency multistage depressed collectors (MDC's) for microwave amplifier traveling-wave tubes for space communication and aircraft applications is provided. To attain the highest possible MDC efficiencies, the electrode surfaces must have low secondary electron emission characteristics. Pyrolytic graphite, a chemically vapor-deposited material, is a particularly promising candidate for this application. The pyrolytic graphite surfaces studied were tested over a range of primary electron beam energies and beam impingement angles from 200 to 2000 eV and direct (0 deg) to near-grazing angles (85 deg), respectively. Surfaces both parallel to and normal to the planes of material deposition were examined. The true secondary electron emission and reflected primary electron yield characteristics of the pyrolytic graphite surfaces are compared to those of sooted control surfaces.

Curren, A. N.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Secondary Electron Emission Spectroscopy of Diamond Surfaces

This report presents the results of the secondary electron emission spectroscopy study of hydrogenated diamond surfaces for single crystals and chemical vapor-deposited polycrystalline films. One-electron calculations of Auger spectra of diamond surfaces having various hydrogen coverages are presented, the major features of the experimental spectra are explained, and a theoretical model for Auger spectra of hydrogenated diamond surfaces is proposed. An energy shift and a change in the line shape of the carbon core-valence-valence (KVV) Auger spectra were observed for diamond surfaces after exposure to an electron beam or by annealing at temperatures higher than 950 C. This change is related to the redistribution of the valence-band local density of states caused by hydrogen desorption from the surface. A strong negative electron affinity (NEA) effect, which appeared as a large, narrow peak in the low-energy portion of the spectrum of the secondary electron energy distribution, was also observed on the diamond surfaces. A fine structure in this peak, which was found for the first time, reflected the energy structure of the bottom of the conduction band. Further, the breakup of the bulk excitons at the surface during secondary electron emission was attributed to one of the features of this structure. The study demonstrated that the NEA type depends on the extent of hydrogen coverage of the diamond surface, changing from the true type for the completely hydrogenated surface to the effective type for the partially hydrogenated surface.

Krainsky, Isay L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Secondary-electron-emission losses in multistage depressed collectors and traveling-wave-tube efficiency improvements with carbon collector electrode surfaces

Secondary-electron-emission losses in multistage depressed collectors (MDC's) and their effects on overall traveling-wave-tube (TWT) efficiency were investigated. Two representative TWT's and several computer-modeled MDC's were used. The experimental techniques provide the measurement of both the TWT overall and the collector efficiencies. The TWT-MDC performance was optimized and measured over a wide range of operating conditions, with geometrically identical collectors, which utilized different electrode surface materials. Comparisons of the performance of copper electrodes to that of various forms of carbon, including pyrolytic and iisotropic graphites, were stressed. The results indicate that: (1) a significant improvement in the TWT overall efficiency was obtained in all cases by the use of carbon, rather than copper electrodes, and (2) that the extent of this efficiency enhancement depended on the characteristics of the TWT, the TWT operating point, the MDC design, and collector voltages. Ion textured graphite was found to be particularly effective in minimizing the secondary-electron-emission losses. Experimental and analytical results, however, indicate that it is at least as important to provide a maximum amount of electrostatic suppression of secondary electrons by proper MDC design. Such suppression, which is obtained by ensuring that a substantial suppressing electric field exists over the regions of the electrodes where most of the current is incident, was found to be very effective. Experimental results indicate that, with proper MDC design and the use of electrode surfaces with low secondary-electron yield, degradation of the collector efficiency can be limited to a few percent.

Ramins, P.↗
DOE OSTI2023

The influence of secondary electron yield uncertainty on the single-sided multipacting in dielectrics

Multipacting is an electrical discharge caused by the emission of secondary electrons which can occur in vacuum radio frequency systems. Generally multipacting is highly undesirable obstacle, which increases the noise level as well as the return loss of radio frequency systems. Therefore, a prediction of multipacting is necessary to avoid it during radio frequency system design. In this regard, the accurate evaluation of the factors that affect multipacting is required. One of the critical factors determining the multipacting development is the secondary electron yield of the material. In practice the emission properties of materials are not known very accurately. There are uncertainties in the measured values of this yield. In this paper, the generalized Polynomial Chaos (gPC) method is used to quantify uncertainty of the secondary electron yield. This method is verified by Monte Carlo simulation. The effect of uncertainty for two secondary electron yield parameters is then investigated on the multipacting using gPC method.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Effects of Surface Treatments on Secondary Electron Emission from CVD Diamond Films

Secondary electron emission (SEE) properties of polycrystalline diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) were measured. The total secondary yield (sigma) from as-grown samples was observed to be as high as 20 at room temperature and 48 while heating at 700 K in vacuum. Electron-beam-activated, alkali-terminated diamond films have shown stable values of sigma as high as 60 when coated with CsI and similarly high values when coated with other alkali halides. Diamond coated with BaF2 had a stable sigma of 6, but no enhancement of the SEE properties was observed with coatings of Ti or Au. Hydrogen was identified to give rise to this effect in as-grown films. However, electron beam exposure led to a reduction in sigma values as low as 2. Exposure to a molecular hydrogen environment restored sigma to its original value after degradation, and enabled stable secondary emission during electron beam exposure. Atomic hydrogen and hydrogen plasma treatments were performed on diamond/Mo samples in an attempt to increase the near-surface hydrogen concentration which might lead to increased stability in the secondary emission. Raman scattering analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) confirmed that hydrogen plasma and atomic hydrogen treatments improved the quality of the CVD diamond significantly. Elastic recoil detection (ERD) showed that heating as-grown diamond targets to 7OO K, which was correlated with an increase in sigma, removed contaminants from the surface but did not drive hydrogen from the diamond bulk. ERD showed that the hydrogen plasma treatment produced an increase in the hydrogen concentration in the near-surface region which did not decrease while heating in vacuum at 700 K, but no improvement in the SEE properties was observed.

Mearini, G. T.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Secondary electron emission from sodium chloride, glass and aluminum oxide at various temperature

The method of single impulses was used to measure the coefficients of the secondary electronic emission for 2 types of Al2O2, monocrystalline NaCl and glass at different temperatures and for different values of the energy of the primary electrons. The value of the secondary electron emission does not depend upon temperature. The effect of a gas film on the value of the secondary electron emission was detected.

Shulman, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Energetic secondary electrons and the nonthermal galactic radio background - A probe of the magnetic field in interstellar clouds

A previous analysis of the manifestations of charged-pion-decay secondary electrons in interstellar cloud material is extended to include those contributions to the Galactic radio and soft gamma-ray backgrounds that are directly attributable to energetic secondaries. The equilibrium distribution of secondary electrons in dense interstellar clouds is calculated, synchrotron emissivity from isolated interstellar clouds is examined, and it is shown how the value of the magnetic field in these clouds may be determined by observing the radio emission in their directions. The contribution that such clouds make to the integrated radio background is evaluated, and the Galactic distribution of bremsstrahlung gamma rays that arise from interactions of secondary electrons with thermal material in dense clouds is computed. The results indicate that a magnetic field of no more than 80 microgauss is characteristic of dense clouds and that the integrated synchrotron radiation from secondary electrons in interstellar clouds will contribute a significant fraction of the nonthermal brightness along the Galactic equator even if the mean cloud field is as low as 35 microgauss.

Marscher, A. P.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Impact of photoexcitation on secondary electron emission: A Monte Carlo study

Understanding the transport of photogenerated charge carriers in semiconductors is crucial for applications in photovoltaics, optoelectronics, and photo-detectors. While recent experimental studies using scanning ultrafast electron microscopy (SUEM) have demonstrated that the local change in the secondary electron emission induced by photoexcitation enables direct visualization of the photocarrier dynamics in space and time, the origin of the corresponding image contrast still remains unclear. Here, we investigate the impact of photoexcitation on secondary electron emissions from semiconductors using a Monte Carlo simulation aided by time-dependent density functional theory. Particularly, we examine two photoinduced effects: the generation of photocarriers in the sample bulk and the surface photovoltage (SPV) effect. Using doped silicon as a model system and focusing on primary electron energies below 1 keV, we found that both the hot photocarrier effect immediately after photoexcitation and the SPV effect play dominant roles in changing the secondary electron yield (SEY), while the distribution of photocarriers in the bulk leads to a negligible change in SEY. Our work provides insights into electron–matter interaction under photo-illumination and paves the way toward a quantitative interpretation of the SUEM contrasts.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Energy-dependent implementation of secondary electron emission models in continuum kinetic sheath simulations

The plasma-material interactions present in multiple fusion and propulsion concepts between the flow of plasma through a channel and a material wall drive the emission of secondary electrons. This emission is capable of altering the fundamental structure of the sheath region, significantly changing the expected particle fluxes to the wall. The emission spectrum is separated into two major energy regimes, a peak of elastically backscattered primary electrons at the incoming energy, and cold secondary electrons inelastically emitted directly from the material. The ability of continuum kinetic simulations to accurately represent the secondary electron emission is limited by relevant models being formulated in terms of monoenergetic particle interactions which cannot be applied directly to the discrete distribution function. As a result, rigorous implementation of energy-dependent physics is often neglected in favor of simplified, constant models. We present here a novel implementation of semi-empirical models in the boundary of continuum kinetic simulations which allows the full range of this emission to be accurately captured in physically-relevant regimes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Secondary electron emission for reticulated carbon foam surfaces using direct measurements and spectroscopic analysis

This study investigates secondary electron emission (SEE) characteristics of reticulated foams using direct measurements and analytical modeling. Total SEE was quantified, revealing suppression of up to 44% in carbon foam structures compared to planar graphite surfaces. An optimal geometric configuration was identified and supported by analytical models. SEE angular dependence experiments showed diverse behaviors: fiber-like behavior and directional dependence for pore and ligaments on the mm scale, with fuzz-like characteristics when the foam features are between 10–100 µm. Electron energy analyzer measurements showed that carbon foams preferentially suppress inelastic backscattered electrons (BSEs) more so than true secondary electrons (SEs). The analysis indicated a larger fraction of low-energy SE generation in foams compared to flat surfaces due to increased emission from curved fiber ligaments and tertiary SEs from high-energy BSEs. These findings have implications for design and optimization of materials with tailored electron emission properties for applications like plasma-facing components, spacecraft materials, and accelerator surfaces.

Auger↗
DOE OSTI2022

Contrast Mechanisms in Secondary Electron e-Beam-Induced Current (SEEBIC) Imaging

Abstract Over the last few years, a new mode for imaging in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) has gained attention as it permits the direct visualization of sample conductivity and electrical connectivity. When the electron beam (e-beam) is focused on the sample in the STEM, secondary electrons (SEs) are generated. If the sample is conductive and electrically connected to an amplifier, the SE current can be measured as a function of the e-beam position. This scenario is similar to the better-known scanning electron microscopy-based technique, electron beam-induced current imaging, except that the signal in the STEM is generated by the emission of SEs, hence the name secondary electron e-beam-induced current (SEEBIC), and in this case, the current flows in the opposite direction. Here, we provide a brief review of recent work in this area, examine the various contrast generation mechanisms associated with SEEBIC, and illustrate its use for the characterization of graphene nanoribbon devices.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗