Comparison of photon transport efficiency in simple scintillation electron detector configurations for scanning electron microscope

0552072 - ÚPT 2023 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Schauer, Petr
Comparison of photon transport efficiency in simple scintillation electron detector configurations for scanning electron microscope.
Microscopy Research and Technique. Roč. 85, č. 5 (2022), s. 1870-1883. ISSN 1059-910X. E-ISSN 1097-0029
R&D Projects: GA TA ČR(CZ) TN01000008
Institutional support: RVO:68081731
Keywords : light guide * MC simulation * scintillator * SEM electron detector
OECD category: Electrical and electronic engineering
Impact factor: 2.5, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jemt.24048

The purpose of this paper is to find some general rules for the design of robust scintillation electron detectors for a scanning electron microscope (SEM) that possesses an efficient light-guiding (LG) system. The paper offers some general instructions on how to avoid the improper design of highly inefficient LG configurations of the detectors. Attention was paid to the relevant optical properties of the scintillator, light guide, and other components used in the LG part of the scintillation detector. Utilizing the optical properties of the detector components, 3D Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of photon transport efficiency in the simple scintillation detector configurations were performed using the computer application called SCIUNI to assess shapes and dimensions of the LG part of the detector. The results of the simulation of both base-guided signal (BGS) configurations for SE detection and edge-guided signal (EGS) configurations for BSE detection are presented. It is demonstrated that the BGS configuration with a matted disc scintillator exit side connected to the cylindrical light guide without optical cement is almost always a sufficiently efficient system with a mean LG efficiency of about 20%. It is simulated that poorly designed EGS strip configurations have an extremely low mean LG efficiency of only 0.01%, which can significantly reduce detector performance. On the other hand, no simple nonoptimized EGS configuration with a light guide widening to a circular or square profile, with a polished cemented scintillator and with an indispensable hole in it has a mean LG efficiency lower than 6.5%.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0331123