Monte Carlo simulation of absolute secondary electron yield of Cu

A Monte Carlo simulation model of electron interaction with solids that includes cascade secondary electron production has been used to study secondary electron emission from Cu. An optical dielectric function was used to describe electron energy loss and the associated secondary electron excitation. From the simulation, the absolute primary energy dependence of the secondary yield and the energy distribution of secondary electrons has been obtained. We have compared the calculated true secondary yield and total secondary yield curves with experiment. Good agreement has been found only for those experiment data obtained in ultrahigh vacuum.