SIMULATION AND MODELING OF THIN-FILM PHI(RHO-Z) CURVES FOR ELECTRON-PROBE MICROANALYSIS

A method is described for calculating thin film phi(rho z) curves from the corresponding bulk phi(rho z) curves. A multiple scattering Monte Carlo program was used to simulate more than 300 thin film phi(rho z) curves with different film-substrate combinations. The simulations we re made at normal electron incidence in the energy range 10-30 keV. Fr om these data, a general expression was derived to predict thin film p hi(rho z) curves for any film-substrate combination at any electron en ergy for EPMA. Calculated k-ratios were compared with existing measure d k-ratios in order to confirm the validity of the model. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.