Secondary-electron cascade in attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy from metals

Attosecond spectroscopy is currently restricted to photon energies around 100 eV. We show that under these conditions, electron-electron scatterings, as the photoelectrons leave the metal, give rise to a tail of secondary electrons with lower energies and hence a significant background. We develop an analytical model based on an approximate solution to Boltzmann's transport equation to account for the amount and energy distribution of these secondary electrons. Our theory is in good agreement with the electron spectrum found in a recent attosecond streaking experiment. To suppress the background and gain higher-energy resolution, photon sources of higher energy could be advantageous.