Simulation of spin-polarized secondary electrons

A Monte Carlo model has been developed to simulate spin-polarized secondary electron emission from ferromagnetic materials. The trajectories of the secondary electrons are traced by the cascade scattering model and the spin direction of the generated secondary electrons are determined according to the conduction band polarization. The two major characteristics, namely the primary energy dependence and the energy distribution of the spin polarization, are studied. Reasonable agreement is obtained between simulation results and experimental measurements for the primary energy dependence. The background curve of the energy distribution is also simulated by our model. We show that these characteristics of the spin polarization can be explained by introducing spin-dependent inelastic mean free paths for spin-up and spin-down electrons.