Improved Electron Microscopy with Monte Carlo Simulations

This tutorial will review the principles of Monte Carlo simulations to perform x-ray microanalysis in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) as well as to simulate electrons backscattered images in the SEM. Emphasis will be given on two Monte Carlo free commercial software, Casino [1] and Win X-Ray [2] that can be used to perform quantitative x-ray microanalysis as well as to find optimum conditions to analyse and image various types of materials. The utility of Monte Carlo simulations to characterize non homogeneous materials in the SEM will also be covered. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations for the effect of the skirt on X-Ray microanalysis in the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) or the variable pressure scanning electron microscope (VP-SEM) will be discussed. Casino simulates electron scattering for homogeneous and heterogeneous materials consisting of horizontal or vertical layers and x-ray emission for characteristic lines only. Win X-Ray computes the full X-ray spectrum emitted from a homogeneous bulk specimen and measured with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) x-ray detector in a SEM. These two Monte Carlo programs can be downloaded at http://www.montecarlomodeling.mcgill.ca/ .