Absolute electron emission calibration: round robin tests of Au and graphite

Overview & Synopsis

This study presents a round robin comparison of absolute electron yields of conducting and insulating materials performed in four international laboratories. Measurements are reported for two standard elemental conducting samples with reproducible sample preparation for Au and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The primary objectives of the study were to determine the consistency and uncertainties of these absolute yields measurements, and to investigate the effects of the similarities and differences of the diverse facilities. In this initial round robin study, HOPG total electron yield results were found to be more reproducible than those for Au. Surface contamination significantly affected the total electron yield, even for relatively inert conductive samples like Au and HOPG.