A Monte Carlo modeling of electron interaction with solids including cascade secondary electron production

TLDR

The study presents a new Monte Carlo simulation approach to model electron scattering and secondary electron generation in solids, detailing the procedure and its application to secondary electron production. The model employs Mott elastic scattering cross sections and Penn's dielectric function to simulate electron interactions, with procedural details described. The model shows excellent agreement with experimental backscattered electron energy distributions and demonstrates its usefulness for understanding electron microscopy phenomena, especially in the sub‑keV regime where cascade secondary electrons dominate. © 1994.

Abstract

Abstract A new Monte Carlo simulation approach has been developed to describe electron scattering and secondary electron generation processes in solids. This approach is based on the uses of Mott's elastic scattering cross section and Penn's dielectric function. A very good agreement has been found on the energy distribution of backscattered electrons between theoretical calculations and accurate experimental measurement recently made by Goto et al . (1994). This fact confirms that the present Monte Carlo model is very useful for more comprehensive understanding of basic phenomena in electron spec‐troscopy and microscopy, particularly in the sub‐keV energy region where cascade secondary electrons play a dominant role. In this paper the details of the Monte Carlo procedure are described and further application to the mechanism of secondary electron generation is presented.