Comment on ‘‘Secondary-electron effects in photon-stimulated desorption’’

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Abstract
In a recent paper entitled ‘‘Secondary-electron effects in photon-stimulated desorption,’’ Ramaker et al. [Phys. Rev. B 38, 2099 (1988)] presented a straightforward analytical model that may be used to explain much of the photon-stimulated ion-desorption (PSID) spectral data of molecular films and adsorbates. However, in their analysis of PSID and total-photoelectron-yield spectra of a mixed, nitrogen-oxygen solid [R. A. Rosenberg, P. J. Love, C. C. Parks, P. R. LaRoe, and V. Rehn (unpublished)], the normalization for incident-photon-flux variations was handled incorrectly, and the effects of the variation of monochromator resolution with photon energy were neglected. In this Comment, we reanalyze the electron- and ion-desorption-yield spectra of the mixed oxygen-nitrogen solid, using the model of Ramaker et al., but without these errors and omissions. In addition, we consider carefully the effects of uncertainties and probable error in the data on the reliability of the conclusions. These and other corrections are presented and discussed. Fortunately the main conclusions of Ramaker et al. are not affected by these corrections, but some significant conclusions and implications are altered.

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