Secondary Electron Emission Spectroscopy of Crystalline and Non-Crystalline Carbon Allotropes

The Secondary Electron Emission (SEE) spectra of type Ha diamond, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), amorphous carbon (e-beam evaporated), glassy carbon and amorphic-diamond (filtered arc evaporated) were measured in the 0–80 eV electron kinetic energy range, and found to be very distinctive for the different carbon allotropcs. The sensitivity of SEE spectroscopy to crystal damage for the type Ha diamond surface was studied by performing SEE measurements as function of 1 keV argon ion irradiation dose. Two examples of the use of SEE in the characterization of diamond surfaces are presented. In the first, the crystalline quality of the back and front surfaces of a chemically vapour deposited diamond thin film which had dclaminated from a fused quartz substrate were compared using SEE and, in the second, SEE was used to provide a qualitative estimate of the damage induced by mechanical polishing of a natural diamond surface.