Monte Carlo Calculations of the Electron-Sample Interactions in the Scanning Electron Microscope

Abstract

The Monte Carlo technique was applied to the fundamentals of the Electron Probe Microanalyzer (EPMA) and the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). A model based on the multiple scattering formula of Lewis was applied to simulate the scattering processes of the primary electrons in the specimen and was exemplified by comparison with the experimental results on the escape electrons, the backscattered electrons, and the secondary‐electron yield, and good agreements were obtained. As simple approaches to further study, the lateral distributions of the backscattered electrons and the secondary electrons on the specimen surface were calculated from the Monte Carlo procedure which has brought about very useful knowledge on the resolving power of both the scanning image of the backscattered electrons in EPMA and SEM.