TRANSPORT DESCRIPTION OF X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON EMISSION IN THICK TARGETS.

The proper description of energy deposition and transfer of photoelectrons generated in microelectronic structures is described as essential in assessing the vulnerability of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) to penetrating radiation. Diffusion models coupled with the continuous energy deposition approximation have found widespread use primarily because of simplicity and general applicability. This paper attempts to address model reliability by first establishing a realistic benchmark solution based on electron transport theory and then comparing the transport result to several well know diffusion models.