Nonlinear change of ion-induced secondary electron emission in theκ-Al_(2)O_(3) surface charging from first-principle modelling

Secondary electron emission(SEE)induced by the positive ion is an essential physical process to influence the dynamics of gas discharge which relies on the specific surface material.Surface charging has a significant impact on the material properties,thereby affecting the SEE in the plasma-surface interactions.However,it does not attract enough attention in the previous studies.In this paper,SEE dependent on the charged surface of specific materials is described with the computational method combining a density functional theory(DFT)model from the first-principle theory and the theory of Auger neutralization.The effect ofκ-Al2O3 surface charge,as an example,on the ion-induced secondary electron emission coefficient(SEEC)is investigated by analyzing the defect energy level and band structure on the charged surface.Simulation results indicate that,with the surface charge from negative to positive,the SEEC of a part of low ionization energy ions(such as Ei=12.6 eV)increases first and then decreases,exhibiting a nonlinear changing trend.This is quite different from the monotonic decreasing tendency observed in the previous model which simplifies the electronic structure.This irregular increase of the SEEC can be attributed to the lower escaped probability of orbital energy.The results further illustrate that the excessive charge could cause the bottom of the conduction band close to the valence band,thus leading to the decrease of the orbital energy occupied by the excited electrons.The nonlinear change of SEEC demonstrates a more realistic situation of how the electronic structure of material surface influences the SEE process.This work provides an accurate method of calculating SEEC from specific materials,which is urgent in widespread physical scenarios sensitive to surface materials,such as increasingly growing practical applications concerning plasma-surface interactions.

A novel double dielectric barrier discharge reactor with high field emission and secondary electron emission for toluene abatement

Dielectric barrier discharge(DBD)has been extensively investigated in the fields of environment and energy,whereas its practical implementation is still limited due to its unsatisfactory energy efficiency.In order to improve the energy efficiency of DBD,a novel double dielectric barrier discharge(NDDBD)reactor with high field emission and secondary electron emission was developed and compared with traditional DDBD(TDDBD)configuration.Firstly,the discharge characteristics of the two DDBD reactors were analyzed.Compared to TDDBD,the NDDBD reactor exhibited much stronger discharge intensity,higher transferred charge,dissipated power and gas temperature due to the effective utilization of cathode field emission and secondary electron emission.Subsequently,toluene abatement performance of the two reactors was evaluated.The toluene decomposition efficiency and mineralization rate of NDDBD were much higher than that of TDDBD,which were 86.44%-100%versus 28.17%-80.48%and 17.16%-43.42%versus 7.17%-16.44%at 2.17-15.12 W and 1.24-4.90 W respectively.NDDBD also exhibited higher energy yield than TDDBD,whereas the overall energy constant k_(overall)of the two reactors were similar.Finally,plausible toluene decomposition pathway in TDDBD and NDDBD was suggested based on organic intermediates that generated from toluene degradation.The finding of this study is expected to provide reference for the design and optimization of DBD reactor for volatile organic compounds control and other applications.

Diamond-based electron emission:Structure,properties and mechanisms

Diamond has an ultrawide bandgap with excellent physical properties,such as high critical electric field,excellent thermal conductivity,high carrier mobility,etc.Diamond with a hydrogen-terminated(H-terminated)surface has a negative electron affinity(NEA)and can easily produce surface electrons from valence or trapped electrons via optical absorption,thermal heating energy or carrier transport in a PN junction.The NEA of the H-terminated surface enables surface electrons to emit with high efficiency into the vacuum without encountering additional barriers and promotes further development and application of diamond-based emitting devices.This article reviews the electron emission properties of H-terminated diamond surfaces exhibiting NEA characteristics.The electron emission is induced by different physical mechanisms.Recent advancements in electron-emitting devices based on diamond are also summarized.Finally,the current challenges and future development opportunities are discussed to further develop the relevant applications of diamond-based electronemitting devices.

Design of the electron cyclotron emission diagnostic on EXL-50 spherical torus

The electron cyclotron emission(ECE)diagnostic system has been developed on the ENN spherical torus(EXL-50).The ECE system is designed to detect radiation emitted by energetic electrons,rather than conventional 1D electron temperature profile measurement,in the frequency range of 4-40 GHz.The system is composed of five subsystems,each covering a different frequency band,including the C-band(4-8 GHz),X-band(8-12 GHz),Ku-band(12-18 GHz),K-band(18-26.5 GHz)and Kα-band(26.4-40 GHz).The system uses heterodyne detection to analyze the received signals.The K-band and Kα-band subsystems are located horizontally in the equatorial plane of the EXL-50,while the C-band,X-band and Ku-band subsystems are located under the vacuum vessel of the EXL-50.To direct the microwaves from the plasma to the antennas for the horizontal detection subsystems,a quasi-optical system has been developed.For the vertical detection subsystems,the antennas are directly attached to the port located beneath the torus at R=700 mm,which is also the magnetic axis of the torus.The system integration,bench testing and initial experimental results will be thoroughly discussed,providing a comprehensive understanding of the ECE system s performance and capabilities.

Secondary electron yield of air-exposed ALD-Al_(2)O_(3) coating on Ag-plated aluminum alloy

Secondary electron yield(SEY)of air-exposed metals tends to be increased because of air-formed oxide,hydrocarbon,and other contaminants.This enhances the possibility of secondary electron multipacting in high-power microwave systems,resulting in undesirable occurrence of discharge damage.Al_(2)O_(3) coatings have been utilized as passive and protective layers on device packages to provide good environmental stability.We employed atomic layer deposition(ALD)to produce a series of uniform Al_(2)O_(3) coatings with appropriate thickness on Ag-plated aluminum alloy.The secondary electron emission characteristics and their variations during air exposure were observed.The escape depth of secondary electron needs to exceed the coating thickness to some extent in order to demonstrate SEY of metallic substrates.Based on experimental and calculated results,the maximum SEY of Ag-plated aluminum alloy had been maintained at 2.45 over 90 days of exposure without obvious degradation by applying 1 nm Al_(2)O_(3) coatings.In comparison,the peak SEY of untreated Ag-plated aluminum alloy grew from an initial 2.33 to 2.53,exceeding that of the 1 nm Al_(2)O_(3) sample.The ultra-thin ALDAl_(2)O_(3) coating substantially enhanced the SEY stability of metal materials,with good implications for the environmental dependability of spacecraft microwave components.

Characteristics of a Sheath with Secondary Electron Emission in the Double Walls of a Hall Thruster

In order to investigate the effects of secondary electrons, which are emitted from the wall, on the performance of a thruster, a one-dimensional fluid model of the plasma sheath in double walls is applied to study the characteristics of a magnetized sheath. The effects of secondary electron emission （SEE） coefficients and trapping coefficients, as well as magnetic field, on the structure of the plasma sheath are investigated. The results show that sheath potential and wall potential rise with the increment of SEE coefficient and trapping coefficient which results in a reduced sheath thickness. In addition, magnetic field strength will influence the sheath potential distributions.

Feedback model of secondary electron emission in DC gas discharge plasmas

Feedback is said to exist in any amplifier when the fraction of output power in fed back as an input.Similarly,in gaseous discharge ions that incident on the cathode act as a natural feedback element to stabilize and self sustain the discharge.The present investigation is intended to emphasize the feedback nature of ions that emits secondary electrons（SEs）from the cathode surface in DC gas discharges.The average number of SEs emitted per incident ion and non ionic species（energetic neutrals,metastables and photons）which results from ion is defined as effective secondary electronemission coefficient（ESEEC,Eg）.In this study,we derive an analytic expression that corroborates the relation betweenEg and power influx by ion to the cathode based on the feedback theory of an amplifier.In addition,experimentally,we confirmed the typical positive feedback nature of SEEfrom the cathode in argon DC glow discharges.The experiment is done for three different cathode material of same dimension（tungsten（W）,copper（Cu）and brass）under identical discharge conditions（pressure：0.45 mbar,cathode bias：-600 V,discharge gab：15 cm and operating gas：argon）.Further,we found that theEg value of these cathode material controls the amount of feedback power given by ions.The difference in feedback leads different final output i.e the power carried by ion at cathode（Pi C￠∣）.The experimentally obtained value of Pi C￠∣is 4.28 W,6.87 W and9.26 W respectively for W,Cu and brass.In addition,the present investigation reveals that the amount of feedback power in a DC gas discharges not only affect the fraction of power fed back to the cathode but also the entire characteristics of the discharge.

Durability experiment on anti-electron-bombardment of RE_2O_3-Mo secondary emission material

A durability test to determine anti-bombardment sensitivity of multi-RE2O3-Mo secondary emission material was carried out and the variation of maximum secondary emission coefficient （δ）max)) was monitored at regular intervals. After the experiment, the cathode was analyzed with SEM, EDS and XRD techniques. The results show that δ)max) of multi-RE2O3-Mo cermets cathode heated to 1 100 ℃ under electron bombardment of 300 W/cm2 reaches the peak of 3.35 at 200 h. After 500 h of bombardment, the maximum secondary-electron-yield curve stabilizes. The δ)max) value of the cathode remains at about 2.5 after 1 000 h and represents a good anti-bombardment property. The high δ)max) value of the cathode is related with formation of an enriched Y2O3 layer on the surface under high temperature and with the amount of La2O3 particles in the shape of nanometer distributed on the surface. Under the experimental conditions, the drop of δ)max) value may be caused by the reduction of La2O3 content and the porous layer resulted from evaporation of MoO2, which is formed when Mo at the surface is oxidized.

Secondary electron emission model for photo-emission from metals in the vacuum ultraviolet

This study investigates two secondary electron emission(SEE)models for photoelectric energy distribution curves f(E_(ph),hγ),B,E_(mean),absolute quantum efficiency(AQE),and the mean escape depth of photo-emitted electronsλof metals.The proposed models are developed from the density of states and the theories of photo-emission in the vacuum ultraviolet and SEE,where B is the mean probability that an internal photo-emitted electron escapes into vacuum upon reaching the emission surface of the metal,and E_(mean)is the mean energy of photo-emitted electrons measured from vacuum.The formulas for f(E_(ph),hγ),B,λ,E_(mean),and AQE that were obtained were shown to be correct for the cases of Au at hγ=8.1–11.6 eV,Ni at hγ=9.2–11.6 eV,and Cu at hγ=7.7–11.6 eV.The photoelectric cross sections(PCS)calculated here are analyzed,and it was confirmed that the calculated PCS of the electrons in the conduction band of Au at hγ=8.1–11.6eV,Ni at hγ=9.2–11.6 eV,and Cu at hγ=7.7–11.6 eV are correct.

Secondary electron emission and photoemission from a negative electron affinity semiconductor with large mean escape depth of excited electrons

The formulae for parameters of a negative electron affinity semiconductor(NEAS)with large mean escape depth of secondary electrons A(NEASLD)are deduced.The methods for obtaining parameters such asλ,B,E_(pom)and the maximumδandδat 100.0 keV≥E_(po)≥1.0 keV of a NEASLD with the deduced formulae are presented(B is the probability that an internal secondary electron escapes into the vacuum upon reaching the emission surface of the emitter,δis the secondary electron yield,E_(po)is the incident energy of primary electrons and E_(pom)is the E_(po)corresponding to the maximumδ).The parameters obtained here are analyzed,and it can be concluded that several parameters of NEASLDs obtained by the methods presented here agree with those obtained by other authors.The relation between the secondary electron emission and photoemission from a NEAS with large mean escape depth of excited electrons is investigated,and it is concluded that the presented method of obtaining A is more accurate than that of obtaining the corresponding parameter for a NEAS with largeλ_(ph)(λ_(ph)being the mean escape depth of photoelectrons),and that the presented method of calculating B at E_(po)>10.0 keV is more widely applicable for obtaining the corresponding parameters for a NEAS with largeλ_(ph).

Characteristics of wall sheath and secondary electron emission under different electron temperatures in a Hall thruster

In this paper, a two-dimensional physical model is established in a Hall thruster sheath region to investigate the influences of the electron temperature and the propellant on the sheath potential drop and the secondary electron emission in the Hall thruster, by the particle-in-cell （PIC） method. The numerical results show that when the electron temperature is relatively low, the change of sheath potential drop is relatively large, the surface potential maintains a stable value and the stability of the sheath is good. When the electron temperature is relatively high, the surface potential maintains a persistent oscillation, and the stability of the sheath reduces. As the electron temperature increases, the secondary electron emission coefficient on the wall increases. For three kinds of propellants （At, Kr, and Xe）, as the ion mass increases the sheath potentials and the secondary electron emission coefficients reduce in sequence.

Response of warm season secondary pollutants to emissions and meteorology in the North China Plain region during 2018-2022

自2013年起中国空气质量虽改善,但华北平原(NCP)重污染仍存在且二次污染加剧,而人们对其成因和变化了解有限.本研究利用2018-2022年数据,借助CMAQ模型探讨此污染响应.结果显示,在2018-2022年间,PM_(2.5)浓度显著下降31%-37%,O_(3)和NO_(2)的年下降速率分别为1%和0.5%SIA和SOA也显著减少,每年分别减少9%和6%PM_(2.5)主要因排放减少而下降,而O_(3)则受气象影响而波动.硫酸盐和铵下降的主因是减排,而硝酸盐对气象变化敏感排放和气象变化对SOA的总体减少同样重要,但人为SOA对排放控制敏感生物SOA易受气象变化影响.研究强调了控制人为排放对缓解NCP地区夏季二次污染的重要性.

On characteristics of sheath damping near a dielectric wall with secondary electron emission

A preliminary investigation is conducted to study the characteristics of sheath damping near a dielectric wall with secondary electron emission （SEE）. Making use of the linear analysis of the sheath stability, we have found two major contributions to the sheath damping, one similar to the Landau damping in uniform plasmas and another determined by local electric field and electron density of the steady-state sheath. It indicates that in a classical sheath regime the damping in the sheath region monotonically increases towards the wall and decreases with the enhancement of SEE effect. In order to verify the theoretical analysis, sheath oscillation processes induced by an initial disturbance are simulated with a time-dependent one-dimensional （1D） sheath model. Numerical results obtained are consistent with the theoretical analysis qualitatively.

Secondary electron emission yield from vertical graphene nanosheets by helicon plasma deposition

The secondary electron emission yields of materials depend on the geometries of their surface structures.In this paper,a method of depositing vertical graphene nanosheet(VGN)on the surface of the material is proposed,and the secondary electron emission(SEE)characteristics for the VGN structure are studied.The COMSOL simulation and the scanning electron microscope(SEM)image analysis are carried out to study the secondary electron yield(SEY).The effect of aspect ratio and packing density of VGN on SEY under normal incident condition are studied.The results show that the VGN structure has a good effect on suppressing SEE.

The charging stability of different silica glasses studied by measuring the secondary electron emission yield

This paper reports that the charging properties of lead silica, Suprasil silica and Infrasil silica are investigated by measuring the secondary electron emission （SEE） yield. At a primary electron beam energy of 25 keV, the intrinsic SEE yields measured at very low injection dose are 0.54, 0.29 and 0.35, respectively for lead silica, Suprasil and Infrasil silica glass. During the first e-beam irradiation at a high injection current density, the SEE yields of lead silica and Suprasil increase continuously and slowly from their initial values to a steady state. At the steady state, the SEE yields of lead silica and Suprasil are 0.94 and 0.93, respectively. In Infrasil, several charging and discharging processes are observed during the experiment. This shows that Infrasil does not reach its steady state. Two hours later, all samples are irradiated again in the same place as the first irradiation at a low current density and low dose. The SEE yields of lead silica, Suprasil and Infrasil are 0.69, 0.76 and 0.55, respectively. Twenty hours later, the values are 0.62, 0.64 and 0.33, respectively, for lead silica, Suprasil and Infrasil. These results show that Infrasil has poor charging stability. Comparatively, the charging stability of lead silica is better, and Suprasil has the best characteristics.

Characteristics of secondary electron emission from few layer graphene on silicon(111) surface

As a typical two-dimensional(2D) coating material, graphene has been utilized to effectively reduce secondary electron emission from the surface. Nevertheless, the microscopic mechanism and the dominant factor of secondary electron emission suppression remain controversial. Since traditional models rely on the data of experimental bulk properties which are scarcely appropriate to the 2D coating situation, this paper presents the first-principles-based numerical calculations of the electron interaction and emission process for monolayer and multilayer graphene on silicon(111) substrate. By using the anisotropic energy loss for the coating graphene, the electron transport process can be described more realistically. The real physical electron interactions, including the elastic scattering of electron-nucleus, inelastic scattering of the electron-extranuclear electron, and electron-phonon effect, are considered and calculated by using the Monte Carlo method. The energy level transition theory-based first-principles method and the full Penn algorithm are used to calculate the energy loss function during the inelastic scattering. Variations of the energy loss function and interface electron density differences for 1 to 4 layer graphene coating Go Si are calculated, and their inner electron distributions and secondary electron emissions are analyzed. Simulation results demonstrate that the dominant factor of the inhibiting of secondary electron yield(SEY) of Go Si is to induce the deeper electrons in the internal scattering process. In contrast, a low surface potential barrier due to the positive deviation of electron density difference at monolayer Go Si interface in turn weakens the suppression of secondary electron emission of the graphene layer. Only when the graphene layer number is 3, does the contribution of surface work function to the secondary electron emission suppression appear to be slightly positive.

Analysis of secondary electron emission using the fractal method

Based on the rough surface topography with fractal parameters and the Monte–Carlo simulation method for secondary electron emission properties, we analyze the secondary electron yield(SEY) of a metal with rough surface topography. The results show that when the characteristic length scale of the surface, G, is larger than 1 × 10^(-7), the surface roughness increases with the increasing fractal dimension D. When the surface roughness becomes larger, it is difficult for entered electrons to escape surface. As a result, more electrons are collected and then SEY decreases. When G is less than 1 × 10^(-7),the effect of the surface topography can be ignored, and the SEY almost has no change as the dimension D increases. Then,the multipactor thresholds of a C-band rectangular impedance transfer and an ultrahigh-frequency-band coaxial impedance transfer are predicted by the relationship between the SEY and the fractal parameters. It is verified that for practical microwave devices, the larger the parameter G is, the higher the multipactor threshold is. Also, the larger the value of D,the higher the multipactor threshold.

Effect of Secondary Electron Emission on the Sheath in SPT Chamber

A one-dimensional slab model of the plasma sheath in the stationary plasma thruster （SPT） chamber is developed in this study. It is considered that secondary electrons emitted from ceramic walls are partially trapped by the bulk plasma in the SPT chamber; some secondary electrons drift across the sheath where they are generated and the bulk and move towards the opposite sheath. Thus both the secondary electron emission （SEE） from one sheath and the partially trapped secondary electrons from the opposite sheath contribute to this sheath. The results indicate that both the SEE coefficient and trapping coefficient have a significant impact not only on the distributions of both electrons and ions of the SPT sheath but also on the energy flux loss to the SPT wall. When the trapping coefficient increases, the energy flux of electrons deposited to the walls will increase whereas that of ions will decrease. Besides, the critical electron temperature will decrease greatly with the increase of the trapping coefficient.

Effects of secondary electron emission on plasma characteristics in dual-frequency atmospheric pressure helium discharge by fluid modeling

A one-dimensional(1D) fluid simulation of dual frequency discharge in helium gas at atmospheric pressure is carried out to investigate the role of the secondary electron emission on the surfaces of the electrodes. In the simulation, electrons,ions of He^+ and He_2^+, metastable atoms of He*and metastable molecules of He*_2 are included. It is found that the secondary electron emission coefficient significantly influences plasma density and electric field as well as electron heating mechanisms and ionization rate. The particle densities increase with increasing SEE coefficient from 0 to 0.3 as well as the sheath's electric field and electron source. Moreover, the SEE coefficient also influences the electron heating mechanism and electron power dissipation in the plasma and both of them increase with increasing SEE coefficient within the range from 0 to 0.3 as a result of increasing of electron density.

Plasma Wall Potentials with Secondary Electron Emissions up to the Stable Space-Charge-Limited Condition

Numerical solutions to floating plasma potentials for walls emitting secondary elec- trons are obtained for various surface materials. The calculations are made with plasma moment equations and the secondary electron emission coefficients, which were determined from recent laboratory experiments. The results estimate the wall potentials up to the physical conditions that allow stable plasma sheaths under the space-charge-limited condition. The materials often used in the laboratory, such as aluminum, silicon, boron, molybdenum, silicon dioxide, and alumina, are considered. The minimum wall potential before the onset of space-charge-limited emission is determined by the electron temperatures at which the effective secondary electron emission coefficient integrated over the velocity distributions is about 0.62. The corresponding potential is given by -eφ0 ,- 1.87kBT. The condition for space-charge-limited emission is newly found by numerically searching for all the stable sheaths. The new condition is -eφ0 - 0.95kBT, and this predicts a wall potential that is less negative than the previously found one. Calculation of the power dissipated to the wall for hydrogen plasmas shows that there is a large difference in terms of power dissipation among the considered materials in the temperature range 20-50 eV.