Semiempirical method for calculation of secondary electron emission coefficients of insulating materials using their spectra of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The importance of the secondary electron emission of the protective layer in the alternating current plasma display panels is widely known. However, the difficulty in measuring the secondary electron emission coefficients (gamma) of insulating materials has hampered efforts to obtain accurate estimates of their values. To overcome the difficulty of direct measurement, we devised a calculating gamma using the spectra of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and a well-defined theory. The XPS spectra of the valence and core bands of MgO, Al2O3, and Y2O3 films, which were deposited by e-beam evaporation, were measured. Calculations of the gamma values were conducted for the case when gas ions such as He, Ne, Ar, and Xe slowly approach the solid surface.