Application of Improved Voltage Compensation in the SEM to Imaging of Organic Materials

Author(s):  
P.J. Killingworth ◽  
M. Warren

Ultimate resolution in the scanning electron microscope is determined not only by the diameter of the incident electron beam, but by interaction of that beam with the specimen material. Generally, while minimum beam diameter diminishes with increasing voltage, due to the reduced effect of aberration component and magnetic interference, the excited volume within the sample increases with electron energy. Thus, for any given material and imaging signal, there is an optimum volt age to achieve best resolution.In the case of organic materials, which are in general of low density and electric ally non-conducting; and may in addition be susceptible to radiation and heat damage, the selection of correct operating parameters is extremely critical and is achiev ed by interative adjustment.

Author(s):  
O. C. Wells ◽  
A. N. Broers

The theoretical resolution of the surface SEM is limited by four factors: A lower limit is imposed on the beam diameter by the aberrations of the focussing lens. The brightness of the electron gun determines, for a specified beam current, how closely this limit can be approached. The required beam current is determined by signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) considerations based on the required information content of the image and the signal conversion efficiency and the background conversion efficiency between the incident electron beam and the noise bottleneck of the system. With sone types of image contrast a limit is also imposed by the size of the region which is needed to contain the relevent electron/specimen interaction.


Author(s):  
Oliver C. Wells

The low-loss electron (LLE) image in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is useful for the study of uncoated photoresist and some other poorly conducting specimens because it is less sensitive to specimen charging than is the secondary electron (SE) image. A second advantage can arise from a significant reduction in the width of the “penetration fringe” close to a sharp edge. Although both of these problems can also be solved by operating with a beam energy of about 1 keV, the LLE image has the advantage that it permits the use of a higher beam energy and therefore (for a given SEM) a smaller beam diameter. It is an additional attraction of the LLE image that it can be obtained simultaneously with the SE image, and this gives additional information in many cases. This paper shows the reduction in penetration effects given by the use of the LLE image.


Author(s):  
G. Lehmpfuhl ◽  
P. J. Smith

Specimens being observed with electron-beam instruments are subject to contamination, which is due to polymerization of hydrocarbon molecules by the beam. This effect becomes more important as the size of the beam is reduced. In convergent-beam studies with a beam diameter of 100 Å, contamination was observed to grow on samples at very high rates. Within a few seconds needles began forming under the beam on both the top and the underside of the sample, at growth rates of 400-500 Å/s, severely limiting the time available for observation. Such contamination could cause serious difficulty in examining a sample with the new scanning transmission electron microscopes, in which the beam is focused to a few angstroms.We have been able to reduce the rate of contamination buildup by a combination of methods: placing an anticontamination cold trap in the sample region, preheating the sample before observation, and irradiating the sample with a large beam before observing it with a small beam.


Author(s):  
W. Brünger

Reconstructive tomography is a new technique in diagnostic radiology for imaging cross-sectional planes of the human body /1/. A collimated beam of X-rays is scanned through a thin slice of the body and the transmitted intensity is recorded by a detector giving a linear shadow graph or projection (see fig. 1). Many of these projections at different angles are used to reconstruct the body-layer, usually with the aid of a computer. The picture element size of present tomographic scanners is approximately 1.1 mm2.Micro tomography can be realized using the very fine X-ray source generated by the focused electron beam of a scanning electron microscope (see fig. 2). The translation of the X-ray source is done by a line scan of the electron beam on a polished target surface /2/. Projections at different angles are produced by rotating the object.During the registration of a single scan the electron beam is deflected in one direction only, while both deflections are operating in the display tube.


Author(s):  
J. K. Maurin

Conductor, resistor, and dielectric patterns of microelectronic device are usually defined by exposure of a photosensitive material through a mask onto the device with subsequent development of the photoresist and chemical removal of the undesired materials. Standard optical techniques are limited and electron lithography provides several important advantages, including the ability to expose features as small as 1,000 Å, and direct exposure on the wafer with no intermediate mask. This presentation is intended to report how electron lithography was used to define the permalloy patterns which are used to manipulate domains in magnetic bubble memory devices.The electron optical system used in our experiment as shown in Fig. 1 consisted of a high resolution scanning electron microscope, a computer, and a high precision motorized specimen stage. The computer is appropriately interfaced to address the electron beam, control beam exposure, and move the specimen stage.


Author(s):  
David Joy ◽  
James Pawley

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) builds up an image by sampling contiguous sub-volumes near the surface of the specimen. A fine electron beam selectively excites each sub-volume and then the intensity of some resulting signal is measured. The spatial resolution of images made using such a process is limited by at least three factors. Two of these determine the size of the interaction volume: the size of the electron probe and the extent to which detectable signal is excited from locations remote from the beam impact point. A third limitation emerges from the fact that the probing beam is composed of a finite number of discrete particles and therefore that the accuracy with which any detectable signal can be measured is limited by Poisson statistics applied to this number (or to the number of events actually detected if this is smaller).


Author(s):  
Y. Kokubo ◽  
W. H. Hardy ◽  
J. Dance ◽  
K. Jones

A color coded digital image processing is accomplished by using JEM100CX TEM SCAN and ORTEC’s LSI-11 computer based multi-channel analyzer (EEDS-II-System III) for image analysis and display. Color coding of the recorded image enables enhanced visualization of the image using mathematical techniques such as compression, gray scale expansion, gamma-processing, filtering, etc., without subjecting the sample to further electron beam irradiation once images have been stored in the memory.The powerful combination between a scanning electron microscope and computer is starting to be widely used 1) - 4) for the purpose of image processing and particle analysis. Especially, in scanning electron microscopy it is possible to get all information resulting from the interactions between the electron beam and specimen materials, by using different detectors for signals such as secondary electron, backscattered electrons, elastic scattered electrons, inelastic scattered electrons, un-scattered electrons, X-rays, etc., each of which contains specific information arising from their physical origin, study of a wide range of effects becomes possible.


Author(s):  
E. G. Rightor ◽  
G. P. Young

Investigation of neat polymers by TEM is often thwarted by their sensitivity to the incident electron beam, which also limits the usefulness of chemical and spectroscopic information available by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) for these materials. However, parallel-detection EELS systems allow reduced radiation damage, due to their far greater efficiency, thereby promoting their use to obtain this information for polymers. This is evident in qualitative identification of beam sensitive components in polymer blends and detailed investigations of near-edge features of homopolymers.Spectra were obtained for a poly(bisphenol-A carbonate) (BPAC) blend containing poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) using a parallel-EELS and a serial-EELS (Gatan 666, 607) for comparison. A series of homopolymers was also examined using parallel-EELS on a JEOL 2000FX TEM employing a LaB6 filament at 100 kV. Pure homopolymers were obtained from Scientific Polymer Products. The PTFE sample was commercial grade. Polymers were microtomed on a Reichert-Jung Ultracut E and placed on holey carbon grids.


Author(s):  
F. Ouyang ◽  
D. A. Ray ◽  
O. L. Krivanek

Electron backscattering Kikuchi diffraction patterns (BKDP) reveal useful information about the structure and orientation of crystals under study. With the well focused electron beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), one can use BKDP as a microanalysis tool. BKDPs have been recorded in SEMs using a phosphor screen coupled to an intensified TV camera through a lens system, and by photographic negatives. With the development of fiber-optically coupled slow scan CCD (SSC) cameras for electron beam imaging, one can take advantage of their high sensitivity and wide dynamic range for observing BKDP in SEM.We have used the Gatan 690 SSC camera to observe backscattering patterns in a JEOL JSM-840A SEM. The CCD sensor has an active area of 13.25 mm × 8.83 mm and 576 × 384 pixels. The camera head, which consists of a single crystal YAG scintillator fiber optically coupled to the CCD chip, is located inside the SEM specimen chamber. The whole camera head is cooled to about -30°C by a Peltier cooler, which permits long integration times (up to 100 seconds).


1975 ◽  
Vol 33 (02) ◽  
pp. 256-270
Author(s):  
R. M Howell ◽  
S. L. M Deacon

SummaryElectron microscopy and particle electrophoresis were found to be complementary techniques with which to complete the physical data from an earlier study on barium sulphates used to adsorb clotting factors from serum. The differences revealed by scanning electron microscopy (S. E. M.) in the physical shape of low and high density grades of barium sulphate particles appear to be of greater significance than charge as expressed by electrophoretic mobility, in determining whether or not precursor or preformed factor Xa is eluted.This conclusion was based on the finding that at pH values close to 7, where the adsorption from serum occurs, all samples with the exception of natural barytes were uncharged. However as the high-density, or soil-grade, was found by S. E. M. to consist of large solid crystals it was suggested that this shape might induce activation of factor X as a result of partial denaturation and consequent unfolding of the adsorbed protein. In contrast, uptake of protein into the centre of the porous aggregates revealed by S. E. M. pictures of low-density or X-ray grade barium sulphate may afford protection against denaturation and exposure of the enzyme site.The porous nature of particles of low-density barium sulphate compared with the solid crystalline forms of other grades accounts not only for its lower bulk density but also for its greater surface/gram ratio which is reflected by an ability to adsorb more protein from serum.Neither technique produced evidence from any of the samples to indicate the presence of stabilising agents sometimes used to coat particles in barium meals.


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