Classical Monte-Carlo simulations of x-ray induced electron cascades in various materials

Abstract

In this paper, we present an extension to our code, XCASCADE [Medvedev, Appl. Phys. B 118, 417], that enables to model time evolution of electron cascades following low-intensity X-ray excitation in various materials consisting of elements with atomic numbers Z = 1 - 92. The code is based on a classical Monte-Carlo scheme and uses atomistic cross sections to describe electron impact ionization. The new extended version, XCascade-3D, also tracks the electron trajectories with 3D spatial resolution. This model takes into account anisotropic scattering of electrons on atoms. We show that the calculated electron ranges in various materials are in a good agreement with the available data, confirming the potential for high accuracy applications at FEL pulse diagnostics.