Charging effect frequently occurs when characterizing nonconductive materials using electrons as probes and/or signals and can impede the acquisition of useful information about the material under investigation. It is not adequate to investigate it merely by experiments, but theoretical investigations, for which the Monte Carlo method is a suitable tool, are also necessary. In this paper we review Monte Carlo simulations and selected experiments, intending to provide general insight into the charging effects induced by electron beam irradiation. We will introduce categories of the charging effect, the theoretical framework that is adopted in Monte Carlo modeling of the charging effect and present some typical simulation results. At last, with the knowledge on charging effect imparted by the above contents, we will discuss the measures that can be used for minimizing it.
Keywords: 202 dielectrics / piezoelectrics / insulators; 212 surface and interfaces; 502 electron spectroscopy; 70 New topics/Others; Charging effect; Monte Carlo; electron beam irradiation; experiment.
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by National Institute for Materials Science in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group.