MULTIPLE EMISSION DISTRIBUTION OF SECONDARY ELECTRONS FROM METALS

Measurements have been made on the statistical distribution of multiple emission of secondary electrons produced by bombarding Cu, Ag, Pt and Au targets with electrons having energies in the range 60-960 ev. A comparison between the experimental distributions and the corresponding Poissonian distributions, made by comparing their second-order moments, suggests that these distributions, although similar, are different. Some speculative comments are given on how the difference might arise. The possibility of describing it empirically with the use of combinatorial moments is suggested.