Dependence of electron and positron backscattering coefficients on Al film thickness

Abstract The backscattering coefficient of 1–4 keV electron and positron beams normally incident impinging on Al thin film targets is stochastically modeled within a Monte Carlo frame work. The aim of the present paper is to study the behavior of the backscattering coefficient as a function of the Al film thickness. To the authors’ knowledge, no theoretical or experimental work on the dependence of the positron backscattering coefficient on film thickness targets has been reported so far. It is found that the backscattering coefficient for both electron and positron beams presents different behaviors when the Al film thickness belongs to the nano-scale. Beyond this scale, the behavior becomes qualitatively similar.