Monte Carlo study of electron transmission and backscattering from metallic thin films

Abstract

A Monte Carlo trajectory model that describes electron transport in semi-infinite metallic solids also gives quantitative agreement with experiment for the transmission fraction for thin films of Be, Al, Cu, and Au and for the energy distribution in Al, both as a function of primary energy ${\mathit{E}}_{\mathit{p}}$ and of film thickness t. Significantly, the results enabled the construction of universal curves of transmission and backscattered fractions versus reduced film thickness ${\mathit{t}}_{\mathit{n}}$=t/${\mathit{x}\mathit{\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}}}_{\mathit{p}}$ for each element, where ${\mathit{x}\mathit{\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}}}_{\mathit{p}}$ is the mean depth of penetration of primary electrons in the semi-infinite solids. As ${\mathit{x}\mathit{\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}}}_{\mathit{p}}$ may also be fitted to empirical curves, these results may be used to predict transmission and backscattering for thin films without future resort to lengthy numerical calculations. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.