In spite of the complicated specimen preparation, Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) have traditionally been used for the investigation of the fine grain structures of sintered ceramics. Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) have not been used much for the same purpose as TEM because of poor results caused by the specimen charging effect, and also the lack of sufficient resolution. Here, we are presenting a successful result of high resolution imaging of sintered alumina (pure Al2O3) using the Specimen Heated and Electron Beam Induced Conductivity (SHEBIC) method, which we recently reported, in an ultrahigh resolution SEM (UHR-SEM). The JSM-6000F, equipped with a Field Emission Gun (FEG) and an in-lens specimen position, was used for this application.After sintered Al2O3 was sliced into a piece approximately 0.5 mm in thickness, one side was mechanically polished to get a shiny plane for the observation. When the observation was started at 20 kV, an enormous charging effect occured, and it was impossible to obtain a clear Secondary Electron (SE) image (Fig.1).
