About energy balance during ESD processes in the very low range of electron energies: Measurements and discussion on the desorption of H− ions from a hydrogenated diamond film

This paper deals mainly with a comparison of ESD experimental data recorded on similar samples of hydrogenated microcrystalline diamond substrates exposed to electron beams of energies below 10 eV and of comparable densities. Two substantially setups provide data showing large variations for the resonant process leading to desorption of H− ions. While published data claim that hydrogen ions leave the surface with mean kinetic energies proportional to the incident electron energies, the new experimental results reported here show invariant most probable initial energies for H− ions. Other samples involving chemisorbed radicals show very comparable behaviour. Therefore, it is assumed that the influence of the setup configuration influences the desorption characterizations. It is likely that a real quantum mechanic approach may take into account the simultaneous interaction of the electron with several surface atoms including numerous dissipation channels. Besides this, following the bond breaking process, the ion has to overcome the charge image influence which will significantly reduce the ion kinetic energies. The discussion fully justifies our experimental data.