TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF ELASTIC BACKSCATTERING OF ELECTRONS FROM POLYCRYSTALLINE SOLIDS

It is shown that the local periodicity in the atomic arrangement existing in a polycrystalline substance can cause a noticeable temperature dependence of the coefficient of elastic backscattering of electrons from a solid. Numerical solution of the transport equation shows that the effect is appreciable at oblique incidence (theta0 greater than or similar to 60-degrees, where theta0 is the angle of incidence). However, even at normal incidence the coefficient of elastic backscattering of electrons from a polycrystalline solid of medium atomic number can vary by approximately 25% between T = 20 K and T = 293 K at E almost-equal-to 1 keV.