Applying branching processes theory for building a statistical model for scanning electron microscope signals

Branching stochastic processes are used to describe random systems such as nuclear chain reactions, population development, and gene propagation. We show that the creation of a scanning-electron-microscope signal can be described as a branching stochastic process. A statistical model is described step by step, as a function of the physical parameters of the process. Using the model, we propose a method for determining the unknown probability distribution of the secondary electron emission. Using this method, a lognormal distribution is shown to approximate the secondary electron emission well, and a Poisson distribution is shown to do so poorly.