MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION TECHNIQUES FOR QUANTITATIVE X-RAY-MICROANALYSIS

Monte Carlo simulations of electron diffusion become of increasing int erest for scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray microanalysis (XRM A) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) due to the increasing speed a nd storage capability of modern PCs. Depth distribution functions can be calculated in less than a minute also for complex specimen structur es. To apply Monte Carlo simulations in the energy range of 0.1-50 keV it is necessary to use a data base of Mott elastic cross-sections cal culated by the partial-wave method. For most applications it is suffic ient to consider inelastic scattering by the Bethe continous-slowing-d own approximation and inner-shell ionisations with energy losses large r than 100-200 eV by the Gryzinski cross-section. In future, energy-lo ss functions obtained by a Kramers-Kronig analysis of experimental ele ctron energy-loss spectra (EELS) will become of interest for a better consideration of straggling effects during the slowing-down.