A fast Monte-Carlo model to simulate electron-solid interaction in small dimension raised and buried structures has been developed. Secondary, backscattered, Auger and low energy loss electrons and characteristic x-rays are collected. The model has been used to develop a new method of detection and correction of edge enhancement encountered in high resolution Auger imaging of topographical structures. Back-scattered electrons of energy >0.75Ep (Ep is the energy of the primary electron beam) are used to correct for Auger edge enhancement. Correction is applied to small structures, including a bevelled multi-layer sample where substrate enhancement occurs. This paper reports a Monte Carlo simulation where a single atom scattering model is adopted. The element taking part in each electron-atom interaction is selected on the basis of its contribution either to the total elastic cross section or to the electron's mean free path. Both Rutherford and Mott scattering are considered, with the continuous slowing down process of Bethe used to calculate the energy loss to the system. The backscattered electron coefficients show good agreement with experimental results from a large group of low atomic number materials when using a model which selects the scattering atom by its contribution to the whole compound calculated from its atomic fraction of the total elastic cross-section. PubMed Disclaimer Similar articles
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