Secondary Electron Image Contrast in the Scanning Electron Microscope

An image contrast given in the scanning electron microscope(SEM) is due to differences in a detected number of secondary electrons (SE) coming from the specimen surface. The difference arises from the topographic, compositional and voltage features at the specimen surface. Two kinds of approaches have been taken for the quantification of SE images. One is to simulate electron trajectories in vacuum toward the detector, assuming the typical angular and energy distributions of electrons emitted from the specimen surface. However, the typical angular and energy distributions are not always applicable if a topographic or a compositional feature is present at the surface. The other is to simulate electron trajectory in the specimen. It is possible to obtain angular, energy, and spatial distributions of electrons emitted from the specimen surface. However, in order to discuss the SEM contrast based on these data, one has to assume that, for example, all slow electrons (<50eV) may be collected by the SE detector, or fast electrons ((>50eV) electrons may take a straight trajectory in the vacuum specimen chamber of the SEM. In a practical SEM picture of, for example, an etch-pit, different crystallographic plane surface shows different contrast even if the angle of the primary electron incidence toward all those surfaces is the same. This is because of the acceptance of the signal detection system. In a present study we combined two electron trajectory simulations mentioned above and calculated electron trajectories both in and out of the specimen, to simulate the trajectory from the point of the signal generated until the signal is detected.Although several simulation models of electron scatterings in a specimen have been reported to estimate the SE intensity at the surface, the model should be available to trace low energy (<50eV) electron trajectories. The model used here is basically the same as that reported in previous papers, and only a brief explanation is given in the following. Here, we made several assumptions as; [l]the energy loss of the primary and excited fast electrons is proportion to the number of SEs generated in the specimen, [2]the generated SE has an energy distribution as described by the Streitwolf equation, [3]the energy of the generated SEs are transferred to free electrons of the atom by the elastic-binary-collision, then one SE excited by the primary electron produces a ternary electron after the collision, and each one of the SE and the ternary electron produces higher order electrons in a cascade fashion. The simulation continues until the energy of each electron is less than the surface potential barrier. Angular and energy distributions and number of electrons emitted at the surface agree quite well with each experimental result in a typical case.