Resolution of semiconductor multilayers using backscattered electrons in scanning electron microscopy

Observations of semiconductor multilayers with backscattered electrons in a scanning electron microscope have been used to revisit the concept of resolution of the backscattering imaging mode. With the support of Monte Carlo simulations of beam specimen interaction, it has been possible to achieve the following conclusions. All the backscattered electrons positively contribute to the image formation independently of their trajectories and specimen exit points. The generation volume does not represent in itself a limit to the resolution, which depends only on the beam size and the signal to noise ratio.