非均匀磁场约束条件下的电子束空气等离子体特性

为了揭示大气环境电子束等离子体的性质,基于蒙特卡罗程序包Geant4建立了一个包含电离、激发以及轫致辐射等物理过程的计算模型,用于模拟非均匀磁场约束条件下高能强流稳态电子束的输运特性、以及大气环境等离子体的性质。结果表明:非均匀磁场可以有效控制电子束在空气中的输运轨迹,显著降低电子束的发散;随着电子束在空气中行程的增加,电子束能谱开始展宽并向低能区移动;输运装置出口能量损失比电子束射程末端高2个量级,且随着电子束输运距离的增加,等离子体密度降低;等离子体密度的高低与电子束能量直接相关。     

电介质/半导体结构样品电子束感生电流瞬态特性

电子束照射下电介质/半导体样品的电子束感生电流(electron beam induced current,EBIC)是其电子显微检测的重要手段.结合数值模拟和实验测量,研究了高能电子束辐照下SiO2/Si薄膜的瞬态EBIC特性.基于Rutherford模型和快二次电子模型研究电子的散射过程,基于电流连续性方程计算电荷的输运、俘获和复合过程,获得了电荷分布、EBIC和透射电流瞬态特性以及束能和束流对它们的影响.结果表明,由于电子散射效应,自由电子密度沿入射方向逐渐减小.由于二次电子出射,净电荷密度呈现近表面为正、内部为负的特性,空间电场在表面附近为正而在样品内部为负,导致一些电子输运到基底以及一些出射二次电子返回表面.SiO2与Si界面处俘获电子导致界面附近负电荷密度高于周围区域.随电子束照射样品内部净电荷密度逐渐降低,带电强度减弱.同时,负电荷逐渐向基底输运,EBIC和样品电流逐渐增大,电场强度逐渐减小.由于样品带电强度较弱,表面出射电流和透射电流随照射基本保持恒定.EBIC、透射电流及表面出射电流均随束流呈现近似正比例关系.对于本文SiO2/Si薄膜,透射电流随束能的升高逐渐增大并接近于束流值,EBIC在束能约15 keV时呈现极大值.     

An application of the dust grain charging model to determination of secondary electron spectra

Dust grains – objects of different shapes with a size distribution from micro to nanometers – are generally considered as a part of many space as well as laboratory plasmas. Among various dust charging processes, electron-induced secondary emission plays an important role in plasmas containing a noteworthy portion of high-energy electrons. Since a part of secondary electrons has not the energy high enough to overcome the surface potential barrier, the resulting grain charge is determined not only by the secondary emission yield (related to the grain material and size) but also by the secondary electron spectrum. We have developed a model of secondary electron emission from small dust grains. In the present contribution, we discuss the profile of a secondary emission yield that can be received from the model and the measured equilibrium grain charge, both as functions of an incident electron beam energy. A comparison of these quantities leads to an estimation of secondary electron spectra. We have found that: (1) the energy spectrum of secondary electrons does not change with the energy of primary electrons and (2) the energy spectrum depends on the target material being harder for gold and silver than for glass grains.     

稀薄空气中圆柱腔体内系统电磁脉冲的混合模拟

系统电磁脉冲广泛存在于强电离辐射环境中,且难以有效屏蔽.为了评估稀薄空气对系统电磁脉冲的影响,本文基于粒子-流体混合模拟方法,建立了三维非稳态模型,计算并分析了稀薄空气等离子体的特性以及其与电磁场响应的相互作用.结果表明,压力越高,光电子发射面附近的次级电子数密度越高,轴向分布的梯度越大,腔体中部的电子数密度在20 Torr(1 Torr=133 Pa)下出现峰值,而电子温度随压力升高单调递减.腔体内的稀薄空气等离子体阻碍了空间电荷层的产生,电场响应峰值比真空条件下的低了一个数量级,电场脉冲宽度也显著降低.光电子运动特性决定了电流响应的峰值,压力升高,到达腔体末端的电流先增加再减小.而等离子体电流会抑制总电流的上升速率,并使电流响应出现拖尾.最后,将数值模拟结果与电子束模拟系统电磁脉冲的实验结果进行比较,验证了本文混合模拟模型的可靠性.本研究所采用的混合模拟方法相比于粒子云网格-蒙特卡罗碰撞方法,大幅减小了计算消耗.     

稀薄空气中圆柱腔体内系统电磁脉冲的混合模拟

系统电磁脉冲广泛存在于强电离辐射环境中,且难以有效屏蔽.为了评估稀薄空气对系统电磁脉冲的影响,本文基于粒子-流体混合模拟方法,建立了三维非稳态模型,计算并分析了稀薄空气等离子体的特性以及其与电磁场响应的相互作用.结果表明,压力越高,光电子发射面附近的次级电子数密度越高,轴向分布的梯度越大,腔体中部的电子数密度在20 Torr(1 Torr=133 Pa)下出现峰值,而电子温度随压力升高单调递减.腔体内的稀薄空气等离子体阻碍了空间电荷层的产生,电场响应峰值比真空条件下的低了一个数量级,电场脉冲宽度也显著降低.光电子运动特性决定了电流响应的峰值,压力升高,到达腔体末端的电流先增加再减小.而等离子体电流会抑制总电流的上升速率,并使电流响应出现拖尾.最后,将数值模拟结果与电子束模拟系统电磁脉冲的实验结果进行比较,验证了本文混合模拟模型的可靠性.本研究所采用的混合模拟方法相比于粒子云网格-蒙特卡罗碰撞方法,大幅减小了计算消耗.     

Sub-10 nm writing: focused electron beam-induced deposition in perspective

Over the past decade, focused electron beam-induced deposition has become a mature necessary part of the tool box engineers and scientists. This review presents the current state of the art in sub-10 nm focused electron beam deposition and describes the dominant mechanisms that have been found so far for this regime. Several questions regarding patterning at the highest resolution are addressed. What do our findings mean for using sub-10 nm focused electron beam deposition for industrial applications? And which fundamental issues remain to be solved? The overview shows that low-energy secondary electrons dominate the deposition process. As a result, the highest obtainable spatial resolution (averaged over many deposits) is limited by the mean free path of those electrons. Therefore, the only route to improve the resolution beyond the current appears to be using complexes that are sensitive to the high-energy electrons in the incident beam, rather than to the secondaries. Focused electron beam-induced deposition is compared to related techniques. It is on par with resist-based sub-10 nm electron beam lithography, showing similar spatial resolutions at similar electron doses. Regarding ion beam lithography, there are several distinguishing issues. Sub-10 nm writing has yet to be demonstrated for ion deposition, and although the deposition rate is relatively low when writing with electrons, electrons do not induce damage to the sample. The latter is a crucial advantage for focused electron beam-induced deposition. Finally, the main challenges regarding the applicability of sub-10 nm focused electron beam-induced deposition are discussed.     

Mechanism of electron multiplication due to charging for a SiO2 sample with a buried microstructure in SEM: A simulation analysis

This study investigates the mechanism of electron redistribution and multiplication for a SiO₂ sample with a buried structure in scanning electron microscopy by numerical simulation. The simulation involved electron scattering and internal charge transport in the sample, the tracking of emitted secondary electrons (SEs), and the generation of tertiary electrons (TEs) produced by returned SEs due to charging of the sample. The results show that a buried grounded structure causes a non-uniform distribution of surface potential, and an electric field above the surface. As a result, although the number of escaped SEs above the margin of the buried structure decreases, the number of generated TEs increases more, leading to a final current of electrons that include escaped SEs and increased TEs. This multiplication of SEs might make a crucial contribution to the abnormal negative-charging contrast in SEM. During the electron beam irradiation, the variation in the number of total escaped electrons presents an obvious increase after an initial slight decrease, which corresponded to the transient characteristics of gray levels in SEM images from dark to abnormally bright.     

Eine quantitative Deutung der Elektronengruppen im elektronenstrahlerzeugten He-Niederdruckplasma mit Hilfe der Boltzmannschen Stoßgleichung

Neglecting electron-electron collisions the velocity distribution of plasma electrons in a beam generated He-low pressure plasma is evaluated with help of Boltzmann equation. The energy distribution of secondary electrons generated by the electron beam is considered applying the atom collision theory ofGryzinski. The resulting velocity distribution of plasma electrons shows group character. The “temperatures” of the ultimate and secondary electrons and their density ratio are in satisfying agreement with experiment.     

Transport and Energy Deposition of hot Electrons through the Shock Ignition pre Compressed Target

Shock ignition as an alternative scheme of the laser fusion has the potential of achieving efficient implosion. However, hot electrons produced in result of ignitor‐corona interaction may penetrate deep into the fuel making the compression less effective. Transport and energy deposition of hot electron beam into the dense pre compressed of HiPER target by means of Monte Carlo approach are discussed considering the influence of real density and electron beam characteristics. The target parameters before igniting the hot spot have been extracted from a fluid code and used as the initial profile for Monte Carlo simulations. In comparison with simplified step like density profile, electrons penetrate slightly deeper in the case of real shaped density profile. In addition, deposition zone of a broad spectrum electron beam is wider while, monoenergetic electrons depose their energy locally resulting more maximum energy deposition value. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

临近声速气流条件下电子束空气等离子体特性

为了研究高速动态气流中的电子束等离子体特性,建立了一个由蒙特卡罗模型、多组分等离子体模型与计算流体力学模型组成的多阶段耦合数值模型,在临近声速气流条件下,对1.33×104 Pa空气电子束等离子体特性进行了研究。结果表明,电子束能量沉积具有极强的空间不均性,电子束激发下的风洞流场呈现不同的性质,亚声速流场下游边界区密度减小,而在超声速流场中可诱发弱激波;相比于静止气体,在动态气流中等离子体密度下降,且存在额外的输运行为,使其向气流下游输运,但在临近声速条件下,气流速度大小对气流下游等离子体分布的影响不大;电子束入射角对等离子体空间分布和大小均有影响。     

磁场下夹层结构的高能电子屏蔽性能

针对空间高能电子环境可能造成的航天设备故障、宇航员辐照损伤等情况,基于电子束返回效应,提出了一种磁场下金属/真空夹层式高能电子屏蔽结构。采用Geant4软件,模拟空间高能电子连续能谱,研究磁场下夹层式结构的高能电子屏蔽性能。此外,建立体素模型,计算射线在人体中的累积剂量,从而评估磁感应强度、屏蔽体材料对屏蔽性能的影响。结果表明:与传统被动屏蔽方式相比,夹层式结构具有电子屏蔽性能高、生成透射次级X射线少的特点;随着磁感应强度增加,体模中累积剂量下降,证明夹层结构的电子屏蔽性能不断提升;Ti/Ti材料组合的屏蔽方式具有更优越的高能电子屏蔽性能。该结构具备较好的高能电子屏蔽性能,将来有望对空间高能电子辐射环境进行有效防护。     

大气压管板结构纳秒脉冲放电中时域X射线研究

纳秒脉冲放电能在大气压下产生高电子能量、高功率密度的低温等离子体,由于经典放电理论无法很好地解释纳秒脉冲放电中的现象,近年来以高能逃逸电子为基础的纳秒脉冲气体放电理论受到广泛关注.纳秒脉冲放电会产生高能逃逸电子,伴随产生X射线,研究X射线的特性可以间接反映高能逃逸电子的特性.本文利用纳秒脉冲电源在大气压下激励空气放电,通过金刚石光导探测器测量放电产生的X射线,研究不同电极间隙、阳极厚度下和空间不同位置测量的X射线特性.实验结果表明,在大气压下纳秒脉冲放电能产生上升沿约1 ns,脉宽约2 ns的X射线脉冲,其产生时间与纳秒脉冲电压峰值对应,经计算探测到的X射线能量约为2.3×10-3J.当增大电极间隙时,探测到的X射线能量减弱,因为增大电极间隙会减小电场强度和逃逸电子数,从而减少阳极的轫致辐射.电极间距大于50 mm后加速减弱,同时放电模式从弥散过渡到电晕.随着阳极厚度增加,阳极后方和放电腔侧面观察窗测得的X射线能量均有所减弱,在阳极后面探测的X射线能量减弱趋势更加明显,这说明X射线主要产生在阳极内表面,因此增加阳极厚度会使穿透阳极薄膜的X射线能量减少.     

Secondary electron spectra of gold under bombardment by very low-energy positrons

Measurements of the secondary electron energy spectra resulting from very low-energy positron bombardment of a polycrystalline Au surface are presented. The low-energy part of the secondary spectra contain significant contributions from two processes: (1) annihilation-induced Auger electrons that have lost energy before leaving the surface and (2) secondary electrons resulting from direct energy exchange with an incident positron. Our data indicate that the second process (direct energy exchange with the primary positron) is still important at and below 3 eV incident beam energy. Since energy conservation precludes secondary electron generation below an incident beam energy equal to the difference between the electron and positron work functions (∼3 eV), the fact that we still observe significant secondary electron emission at energies at or below this value provides strong evidence that the incident positrons are falling directly into the surface state and transferring all of the energy difference to an outgoing secondary electron. These measurements were also used to obtain the first experimentally determined upper limit on the intensity of the spectrum of Auger-induced secondary electrons.     

Energy distribution of runaway and fast electrons upon nanosecond volume discharge in atmospheric-pressure air

Nanosecond space discharge in a gas-filled diode is promising for pumping of lasers and high-power lamps. The space charge formed in the absence of an additional preionization source has a few advantages. The energy distributions of the beam electrons and the X-ray spectrum are determined. It is demonstrated that several high-energy electron bunches are formed in such a discharge. The main contribution to the beam current measured behind the foil is related to the runaway electrons, which have energies of tens or hundreds of kiloelectronvolts (supershort avalanche electron beam (SAEB)). Fast electrons with energies of several or tens of kiloelectronvolts are responsible for the generation of the soft X rays in the discharge gap. Anomalous electrons whose energy is higher than the voltage across the gap provide for a minor (less than 5%) contribution to the beam current. The generation time of these electrons is equal to the SAEB generation time accurate to 0.1 ns. It is demonstrated that the anomalous electrons can be generated owing to the acceleration in the presence of the field in front of the moving background-electron multiplication wave. The spectra of the X-ray radiation generated by the fast electrons in the volume are calculated.     

Ultrashort electron beam and volume high-current discharge in air under the atmospheric pressure

Conditions are studied under which an electron beam and a volume discharge with a subnanosecond rise time of a voltage pulse are produced in air under atmospheric pressure. It is shown that the electron beam appears in a gas-filled diode at the front of the voltage pulse in ∼0.5 ns, has a half-intensity duration of ≤0.4 ns and an average electron energy of ∼0.6 of the voltage across the gas-filled diode, and terminates when the voltage across the gap reaches its maximum value. The electron beam with an average electron energy of 60 to 80 keV and a current amplitude of ≥70 A is obtained. It is assumed that the electron beam is formed from electrons produced in the gap due to gas ionization by fast electrons when the intensity of the field between the front of the expanding plasma cloud and the anode reaches its critical value. A nanosecond volume discharge with a specific power input of ≥400 MW/cm³, a density of the discharge current at the anode of up to 3 kA/cm², and specific energy deposition of ∼1 J/cm³ over 3 to 5 ns is created.     

金刚石薄膜对电子束流强放大特性的数值模拟

为充分了解用于金刚石放大光阴极电子枪中的金刚石薄膜对初级电子束流强的放大特性及与其他因素的关系,利用VSIM软件的PIC模块对金刚石放大电子束流强的物理特性进行了数值模拟,结果给出了电子束流强的最大放大倍数与初级电子束能量、金刚石薄膜内部场强及金刚石薄膜厚度等因素的定量关系。模拟结果显示,选择合适的初级电子束能量和金刚石薄膜内部场强,电子束流强的最大放大倍数可以达到两个数量级。     

Characteristic features of deformation of electron spectra behind two-layer barriers

A study is made of the characteristic features of changes in electron spectra behind two-layer barriers for small variations in the thickness of the layers. It is shown that the high-energy region of the spectrum of electrons emerging from the barrier into a small solid angle in the forward direction contains the most information about the barrier thickness and the new spectrum characteristics introduced make it possible, in transilluminating two-layer objects with a beam of fast monoenergetic electrons, to determine the layer which changes its thickness.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 7, pp. 49–53, July, 1978.     

Simulation analysis of the aluminum thin film thickness measurement by using low energy electron beam

This paper indicates a simulation analysis for estimating the aluminum (Al) thin film thickness measurements by using the low energy electron beam. In order to calculate the Al thickness estimation, the energy of the incident electron beams was varied from 10 to 30 keV, while the thickness of the Al film was varied between 6 and 14 μm. From the simulation results it was found that electron transmittance fraction in 14 μm sample is about nine orders of magnitude more than 6 μm sample at the same incident electron beam energy. Simulation results show that maximum transmitted electrons versus Al layer thickness has a parabolic relation and by using the obtained equation, it is possible to estimate unknown thickness of the thin film Al layer. All calculations here were done by CASINO numerical simulation package.     

Dynamics of electron beams in plasmas

The characteristic features of the relaxation of the energy and momentum distribution functions of the electrons in a plasma produced by a low-voltage beam discharge in helium are investigated. It is established that, contrary to widely held opinion, the energy of an intense electron beam may relax due to the wave excitation. The critical currents corresponding to a jumplike transition from one relaxation mechanism to another are measured. The density of metastable helium atoms is determined from the comparative analysis of theoretical and experimental results on the structure of the energy spectrum of the electrons of an intense beam. An intense electron beam is found to become more isotropic in the course of its interaction with Langmuir waves in a collisionless plasma. The cross section for quasi-elastic collisions between the electrons and Langmuir plasmons is estimated. The wave nature of the beam-plasma mechanism for the relaxation of the anisotropic electron energy distribution function is demonstrated, and the mechanism itself is shown to come into play when the discharge current exceeds a certain critical level. The experimental threshold criterion for the energy relaxation of an intense monoenergetic beam is obtained for the first time. It is shown that the relaxation occurs in two stages: the isotropization stage, in which the beam energy decreases insignificantly, is followed by the stage in which the beam relaxes to a state with a plateau-like energy distribution function. The threshold criterion for the relaxation of the anisotropic electron energy distribution function is universal in character regardless of the cause of anisotropy.     

Observation of synchrotron radiation from electrons accelerated in a petawatt-laser-generated plasma cavity

The dynamics of plasma electrons in the focus of a petawatt laser beam are studied via measurements of their x-ray synchrotron radiation. With increasing laser intensity, a forward directed beam of x rays extending to 50 keV is observed. The measured x rays are well described in the synchrotron asymptotic limit of electrons oscillating in a plasma channel. The critical energy of the measured synchrotron spectrum is found to scale as the Maxwellian temperature of the simultaneously measured electron spectra. At low laser intensity transverse oscillations are negligible as the electrons are predominantly accelerated axially by the laser generated wakefield. At high laser intensity, electrons are directly accelerated by the laser and enter a highly radiative regime with up to 5% of their energy converted into x rays.