Ion induced electron emission statistics under Agm- cluster bombardment of Ag

Abstract The electron emission from a polycrystalline silver surface under bombardment with Ag m - cluster ions ( m = 1 , 2 , 3 ) is investigated in terms of ion induced kinetic excitation. The electron yield γ is determined directly by a current measurement method on the one hand and implicitly by the analysis of the electron emission statistics on the other hand. Successful measurements of the electron emission spectra ensure a deeper understanding of the ion induced kinetic electron emission process, with particular emphasis on the effect of the projectile cluster size to the yield as well as to emission statistics. The results allow a quantitative comparison to computer simulations performed for silver atoms and clusters impinging onto a silver surface.