Secondary electron emission calculation based on correcting electron scattering models achieved by Monte Carlo simulation in Geant4

Secondary electron emission (SEE) is a crucial phenomenon in field of materials science, with significant applications in electron microscopes and electron multipliers. In this research, by utilizing a combination of standard electromagnetic physics models and customized parameters, the Geant4 framework is employed to model the SEE process, which achieves the Monte Carlo simulation of SEE yield (SEY) across various materials and surface conditions. The main processes of the modelling includes inelastic scattering, elastic scattering, and interfacial transmission, are tailored to improve the accuracy of SEE simulations. The study evaluates the impact of different parameters such as cut-off energy (Ec) and surface barrier energy loss (EL) on the simulation results. With appropriate parameters, the simulation results for MgO agree well with experimental data. By normalizing the simulation results and experimental data, the two can be better matched. In the low energy of primary electrons (Ep) range of 0 < Ep/Em < 1.5, the calculated results are consistent with the experimental results with a difference less than 0.2. Additionally, the simulations are further applied to 7 materials (Al, Si, C, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, TiN) and 3 surface conditions (incident angle, nanofilm coatings and microstructures) as application examples. The average difference between calculated maximum SEY and measured maximal SEY is less than 10 %. This Monte Carlo model is an extensible platform for SEY calculation and can provide help in the application of SEY prediction and modulation in electronic devices involving the SEE process.