Malter effect

The Malter effect , named after Louis Malter , who first described it in 1936, is a solid-state physics phenomenon that describes increased secondary electron emission from samples with electrically non-conductive thin films.

description

If a sample is exposed to ionizing radiation , for example electrons, ions or X-rays , photoelectrons (secondary electrons) are released from their bonds and leave the sample. In the case of samples with thin, electrically non-conductive layers, this leads to a positive electrical charge on the surface. These charges generate a very high electric field in the non-conductive layer, which attracts electrons from deeper areas of the sample, which also emerge from the sample surface (see field emission ). This current is also known as the Malter current and leads to an increased secondary emission current, which slowly decays due to the reduction in charges after the primary radiation has been switched off.

Individual evidence

^ Louis Malter: Thin Film Field Emission . In: Physical Review . tape 50 , no. 1 , July 1936, p. 48-58 , doi : 10.1103 / PhysRev.50.48 .
^ I. Brodie, CA Spindt: Vacuum Microelectronics . In: Peter W. Hawkes (Ed.): Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics . Academic Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0-12-014725-0 , Section 7. Malter Effect , pp. 2–107 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[1] Louis Malter: Thin Film Field Emission . In: Physical Review . tape 50 , no. 1 , July 1936, p. 48-58 , doi : 10.1103 / PhysRev.50.48 .

[Hawkes1992-2] I. Brodie, CA Spindt: Vacuum Microelectronics . In: Peter W. Hawkes (Ed.): Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics . Academic Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0-12-014725-0 , Section 7. Malter Effect , pp. 2–107 ( limited preview in Google Book search).