Monte Carlo simulation of electron emission from solids

Electron emission and spectroscopy has been simulated by a new Monte Carlo program which has been adapted especially to low energy electron scattering. The underlying physic model in based on elastic Mott cross sections and inelastic losses with full dispersion Delta E = h omega(q). Charge carrier multiplication by secondary electron creation and subsequent cascading processes have been included. Surface effects like surface plasmons and the quantum mechanical surface transmittivity have also been taken into account. Results are obtained for the materials Be, C, Al, Si, Ag, Au, and SiO2. They include energy spectra of secondary and characteristic electrons. We find that attenuation lengths and related escape depths approach the inelastic mean free path lambda(in) only in higher electron energy regions; below 100 eV they drop down to roughly 20% of lambda(in). The results should find application in spectroscopic microscopy by means of low energy electrons in the sub-keV range. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.