The Computation of the Skirt in VP-SEM OR ESEM With Monte Carlo Simulations

Extract

It is well known that the interaction of the electron beam with the gas in the VP-SEM or ESEM generate the so-called skirt as a result of the elastic collisions between the electrons and the molecules. Since the electrons in the skirt hit the specimen far away from the electron beam, they degrade the resolution of the analyses performed in the VPSEM or ESEM. However, the magnitude and the shape of the skirt are still a matter of controversy despite the fundamental importance of knowing these two factors. In this context, a Monte Carlo program has been developed to simulate the interaction of the electron beam with a gas as a function of the gas composition, gas pressure, electron beam energy and working distance (in reality, we should talk of the total distance traveled by the electron beam in the gas). This Monte Carlo program used a single scattering approach considering elastic collisions only since energy loss is negligible owing to the low density of the gas. 10 millions electron trajectories have been simulated for each conditions.