Secondary electron emission by metastable particle impact in ionization growth experiments

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Abstract
The theory of ionization growth in which secondary electron emission follows the diffusion of a metastable species to the cathode is extended to the case where the electron mean energy rises in a generalized manner within the initial region of non-equilibrium near the cathode, towards the value appropriate to equilibrium with the applied electric field. It is found that the spatially dependent coefficient for secondary emission by metastable particle impact is affected by the non-equilibrium conditions over a larger region than that corresponding to the primary ionization coefficient. The assumption underlying the earlier theory, that no ionization or excitation occurs within a finite region near the cathode and that equilibrium conditions exist outside this region, is examined critically.

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