Monte Carlo modeling of secondary electron signals from heterogeneous specimens with nonplanar surfaces

A Monte-Carlo simulation program has been modified to allow specifying the specimen surface as a series of regions with arbitrary shape and composition. It also models the production of the secondary electron signal. This has been applied to a systematic series of experiments with 0.5 and 1.0 micrometers lines of photoresist, and compared to experimental measurements using an SEM. The qualitative agreement indicates that the model can be used to study the effects of variations in operating conditions such as accelerating voltage, as well as the effect of changes in specimen geometry or composition.