Effect of the Surface Morphology of Porous Coatings on Secondary Electron Yield of Metal Surface

Abstract

Surface roughening is an important material surface treatment technique, and it is particularly useful for use in secondary electron yield (SEY) suppression on metal surfaces. Porous structures produced via roughening on coatings have been confirmed to reduce SEY, but the regulation strategy and the influence of process parameters both remain unclear in the practical fabrication of effective porous structures. In this paper, the effect of the surface morphology of porous coatings on the SEY of aluminum alloy substrates was studied. Surface characterization and SEY measurements were carried out for samples with a specific process technique on their surfaces. An exponential fitting model of the correlation between surface roughness and the peak values of SEY curves, δm, was summarized. Furthermore, an implementation strategy to enable low surface SEY was achieved from the analysis of the effect of process parameters on surface morphology formation. This work will aid our understanding of the effect of the irregular surface morphology of porous coatings on SEY, thereby revealing low-cost access to the realization of an easy-to-scale process that enables low SEY.

Keywords

• secondary electron yield (SEY)
• surface morphology
• porous coatings
• wet etching